One crossed off the list.

One is officially off the list - the Atlanta Half Marathon on Thanksgiving Day. Great weather. Great race. 13 miles is a long freaking way to run, but I met my goal time (pretty sure no relay teams will be recruiting me!). 1 hour 58 minutes 27 seconds. Done.

Thankful.

I’ve been inspired by the month of thanks posts several of my Facebook friends are doing, so I thought I’d join in. One for each day of the month, but all at once – just in time for Thanksgiving.

1.     I’m thankful for my family’s health. It’s easy to take that for granted, but I’m very aware that we are incredibly lucky and others are not as fortunate.

2.     I’m thankful I live in the neighborhood I live in, with many close friends. I’m sure a few would bail me out of jail if needed.

3.     I’m thankful for football. SEC football. Specifically, the Georgia Bulldogs.

4.     I’m thankful for a great job, where I’m valued and like what I do. Millions can’t say that.

5.     I’m thankful for 70 degree days in the middle of November.

6.     I’m thankful for our military – brave men and women that put it on the line for us every day.

7.     As an extension of #6, I’m thankful for freedom.

8.     I’m thankful for my 11 year old daughter, who hasn’t embraced the mean girls middle school culture and still loves to play with stuffed animals.

9.     I’m thankful for my 7 year old son, and his new found love for all things football.

10. I’m thankful for Rosemary Beach.

11. I’m thankful for our puppy, Luna, and richness a dog can bring to a family.

12. I’m thankful for Bourbon. Seriously.

13. I’m thankful for my parents and in-laws, and that they are a huge part of our kids’ lives.

14. I’m thankful for the opportunity to travel, and look forward to future adventures.

15. I’m thankful for solitary Sunday mornings with coffee and a newspaper.

16. I’m thankful that our country is coming around to the idea of marriage equality.

17. I’m thankful that on Friday, when much of the nation is shopping, I won’t be.

18. I’m thankful for our home, and how we’ve made it our own.

19. I’m thankful that, every once in a while, I see a really good movie.

20. I’m thankful for teachers.

21. I’m thankful for long runs in nice weather.

22. I’m thankful for tailgating on October afternoons.

23. I’m thankful for (kind of) lazy summers.

24. I’m thankful for babysitters.

25. I’m thankful for great music, especially if I’m hearing it live.

26. I’m thankful for incredible meals, usually with my best friend.

27. I’m thankful for baseball, especially in April.

28. I’m thankful that Kayla likes to snuggle.

29. I’m thankful that Garrett and I read Harry Potter every night.

30. And finally, I’m thankful I have a soulmate I can share everything with. My wife. My best friend.

Um, about those Challenges.

In September, I published a dozen challenges that I was aiming to complete over the next year. Well, 2 months have passed, and although I've given them a lot of thought, I've completed a grand total of zero.  Wow, not too impressive, I know. Don't worry, I've got loads of excuses. You see, we have two kids, both play soccer, work has been crazy, and it's football season. Those are tough circumstances to complete challenges under. But, I'm renewing my commitment, and still think I'll get them done prior to 09.12.12. Here is where we currently stand...

In Progress:

Run a ½ marathon -  This one I'm planning to get out of the way on Thanksgiving day at the Atlanta Half Marathon. I was going to wait until Spring, but decided to go for it. At this point in my training, I can run about 9 miles without dying. 

Do something fun and new with your wife and kids each month - In October we did something crazy new -- we got a 6 week old Weimaraner puppy. So far, that's been a bit crazy, but we all love Luna. She's going to be a spoiled dog. In case you missed it, here is Kayla meeting Luna last month. I'll never forget this moment...

Then, we visited Savannah for a family wedding for the first time as a family. We walked all around the city, and despite a bit of 7 and 11 year old drama, it was a lot of fun. 

Climb a mountain. A big one. - This won't happen until next Spring or Summer, but I've got a couple of experienced hiking friends working on it for me. It'll happen. 

Perform. On stage. - This one is in the works. Scary. 

The other challenges are still percolating. Some I'll just have to DO (like going vegetarian for 10 days). Others will be tough. 

Stay tuned. More to come.

A Dozen Challenges for Year 39

A few weeks ago, I asked for your help. I asked for challenges for me to take on during my 39th year of life. Well, you delivered. I received about 50 or so from good friends, acquaintances and strangers. I got them through Twitter, Facebook, email, this blog, in-person and our neighborhood messageboard. I got some I had thought of, and others that surprised me. One person suggested I Infect myself with hookworms to see if my allergies go away. That didn't make the final cut, but thanks for the suggestion! I do want to sincerely thank all of you who so thoughtfully responded - it meant a lot that you took a few moments to make a suggestion. Also, unfortunately, a lot of great challenges didn't make my list. My criteria was broad, but in the end it had to be something that struck a chord within me. Something I could be passionate about. 

Without further ado, here is the list. The challenge is in bold, each with a comment from me...

1. Grow a garden, feed your family from it. Easy, right? Lots of our friends and neighbors have done this, and I've always wanted to. Now I will. 
2. Perform. On stage. This scares the hell out of me, but it's in print so now I must do it. Holy shit. 
3. Mentor an advertising student. A former professor suggested this and it was one of the first items to make the list. I just hope I don't disappoint the student or push them to pursue a different career.
4. Climb a mountain. A big one. Simple enough. I'll try not to kill myself and take lots of pictures. 
5. Learn to meditate. Then do it. Love this one and there is a place nearby that gives free lessons. I just don't know if I can sit still that long. 
6. Run a ½ marathon. I got a lot of fitness challenges, including one from my sister to run the NYC Marathon. A half sounds like fair middle ground. I'll shoot for next Spring. 
7. Do something fun and new with your wife and kids each month. I love this one too - and would like suggestions for cool things to do. 
8. Do something for charity – other than give money. Donate your time. It should be a charity you’ve never supported before. Really looking forward to this. Again, I'll take suggestions. 
9. For 10 days, go vegetarian. No meat, chicken or fish. Keep a diary of everything you eat and drink. Everything. To some people, this may sound really easy. Not to me. I would guess that over the past ten years, you could count on two hands the number of days I've not had meat. This will be very hard for me. 
10. Take a continuing education class. Photography? Second language? Pole dancing?
11. Create an original work of art, and then share it with the world. This frightens me nearly as much as number two. But then again, museums are full of work that I don't get, so if you don't like my art you probably just don't get me. Or I suck. 
12. Build something you would normally hire someone else to do. I have no idea what I will do for this one.

So there, the die is cast. As I make progress over the next 365 days, I'll update the blog. Thanks again for your support. I hope I don't fall on my face. 

Jason

The Year of Challenges

In a couple of weeks, I’ll turn 39 years old. Awesome, right? I’m looking at the event as an opportunity to reflect, and ultimately, challenge myself to do some new things before I hit 40 in 2013. As grown-ups, we all fall victim to routines – work, school, practice, etc. – and I’m no different. So, it’s time to mix it up, and take some steps to do different things. Challenge myself.

This is where you come in. I need challenges, and I’m inviting you to submit them to me. I’ll take my favorites, publish them, and then try to accomplish them while tracking my progress over the next year on this blog. So, email me, send me a Facebook message, a tweet, a letter, with whatever you’ve got. Feel free to share this blog with others, I'll take submissions from anyone. I’m looking forward to seeing the challenges and hope like hell that more than 3 of you respond.

In full disclosure, I must say this isn’t an original idea. Most aren’t. A talented writer I use to work with, Noel Potts, is currently in the middle of completing her challenges. But, she’s doing a steroids version of it – 30 challenges in a year for her 30^th birthday. Shit. 30? Really? Anyway, please visit her blog – it’s really inspiring. I respect the hell out of that, but I’m married with two kids, and already pretty busy. If I try to conquer 40, 30 or 20 challenges, I’ll fail miserably. I’m not even positive I can do 10. But, I’ll give it a shot.

There are a few things I won’t consider. I won’t endanger myself or my family, I won’t jeopardize my employment, and although I’d love to take on a challenge that requires me to travel the world, that’s likely not happening. 

Ready? Go.

The Tale of a Lightbulb and Public Profanity.

A few weeks ago, a headlight went out on my Passat. Pain in the ass sure, but whatever, no big deal. So I headed up AutoZone, looked up the replacement bulb, and plunked down $16 for a new one. Cut to 2 hours later, after reading blogs and watching YouTube videos on how to change the damn thing I realized I may not be cut out for this. Shit, my guy card takes a serious hit when I can’t change a freaking headlight.

Then I did what most guys would do. I ignored it. Because, the prospect of taking my car in for service ranks right up there with a stop by the DMV. You see, it never quite works out how you think it should. But this week, I bucked up, called the dealer and found that for $40 and 45 minutes, my car would stop looking like it was winking. I made the appointment for yesterday. 8AM. Let’s do this.

I arrived on time (10 minutes late), and was greeted by a young, attractive service rep. I’m pretty sure she was in to me. I mean, she smiled, welcomed me to Jim Ellis, and walked me in to service area. No way everyone gets that kind of treatment. But I digress. She introduced me to Dave, and that’s when things got dicey. Dave worked up the order, and then walked outside to look at the car. When he came back, we had the following exchange:

Dave: Mr. Hatfield, um, we have an issue. You see, your headlights are part of an upgrade package – they’re Xenon headlights. And the bulb is 140 dollars by itself.

Me: (Silence. Dumbstruck).

Dave: And, well, it’s a pretty time intensive repair – like three hours.

Me: (again, dumbstrucked).

Dave: The total cost is 390 dollars.

Me: (mouth agape). Fuck.

Me: Uh, sorry I said that.

Dave: No, that was an appropriate response.

So, there you have it. The cost to replace my headlight bulb is $390. Yeah, I'll call around to other shops to get quotes, but I still can't get over the asshats at VW and the fact that they designed a car that requires you to remove the bumper to change the headlight. 

I’m just going to see how long I can go without driving at night.

One more time, with feeling. Fuck. 

a trip back in time

Saturday was the kick off for our Spring Break, and as landlocked Southerners are prone to do, we hit the road to go to Florida. Holy shit, we were not alone. After nearly 3 hours of maddening traffic on I-75, we couldn't take it anymore, and just south of Warner Robins, we made the decision to avoid the interstate and take backroads instead (we were nudged along after being refused a restroom break at an overcrowded gas station). So, we hit route 41 and, unknowingly, took a trip back in time.

I don't mean that in a derogatory way. It was just, well, different. We started at a roadside "restaurant" in Dooly, GA that we choose simply because we figured it had a restroom. It did. It didn't have a sign though, but it looked clean enough and I'd rather chance eating there than at a McDonald's off of 75. A couple of BBQ sandwiches later we were happy and back on the road.

From there, it was a series of one (or no) stop light towns. Vienna. Cordele. Arabi. Ashburn. And others.  It struck me how these towns are so driven by agriculture, and not retail. While we are consumed by social media, they are consumed by the cotton crop. Or tobacco. The local retail is largely made-up of small main street stores, or dollar stores. Lots of damn dollar stores. I should have counted all the churches. These towns love their churches. But if you were looking for a bar, you were largely out of luck.

What stuck me most, is that as urbanites (or suburbanites), we tend to think that most of America lives like we do. The truth, is that America is still largely rural. And, in a sense, they live in a different time than we do.

Good company, sore feet & a hell of a weekend.

I think I was 12. That would have made it 1985. Seventh grade. It was a Boy Scout trip to Tennessee, and I remember canoeing, fishing and camping. That was the last time I spent the night in a tent. You see, I'm from Georgia, but more accurately, I'm from Atlanta. A city-boy that spent my early years just a couple of blocks from Little 5 Points. Fast forward to high school, and you were much more likely to see me at a Cure concert than camping with buddies. In college, sure I had "outdoorsy" friends, and I told them to have fun with that. I had kegs that needed my attention. It was college for Christ sakes. 

Now, I'm 38. And I love the outdoors. By that, I mean I love having drinks on a patio. Or going for a run on a nice day or visiting beautiful places. Camping? Not so much. But, for some reason, I agreed to go with a couple of buddies on a camping and hiking trip this past weekend. It spanned 3 days, about 18 miles, a few blisters, some rain, a fair amount of bourbon, and some of the most breathtaking views I've ever seen. We drove up to the Blueridge Parkway, and got on the trail not far from Waynesville, NC. From there, we hiked a portion of the Art Loeb Trail in the Pisgah National Forest, covering places like Black Balsam, Tennant Mountain, Stairs Mountain, and ultimately the highest point in the Shining Rock Wilderness - Cold Mountain. It was a ton of fun, and I'll give Chris Foley (our organizer) credit - he had it planned and mapped perfectly. I borrowed gear (just little things like a pack, pad, tent, bag, stool - okay, nearly everything) from a few guys and then I was pretty much along for the ride. Since I was with experienced dudes - Foley and Ben Wakeman - I pretty much just did as I was told. I had no idea what to expect of the hiking, and portions were pretty rugged. Also, I decided I should have done more of this shit when I was younger, as my feet and knees would have been younger too. 

I did stupid shit like not closing the valve on my sleeping pad the first night, and that made for a really rough night sleep. But, I learned some things to - like it's important to pack as lightly as possible, but next time don't skimp on the bourbon (1 small flask doesn't really cover 2 nights). 


Bottom line, it was a lot of fun. It was refreshing to unplug for a couple of days, hang with friends, and get a great workout. Now I'm not about to turn into Bear Grylls or anything, but I'll definitely do again. This time I won't wait another 26 years. 

A letter to the DeKalb County School Board

First, some background - check out the AJC story from yesterday.

This is just the latest black eye for our school system, and frankly, we're running out of eyes. I could write for days about the debacle that is the DeKalb County School System. Cronyism? Check. Indictments? Check. Lawsuits? Check. Nepotism? Check. Mismanagement of tens of millions of dollars? Check.

I wrote this email to our Superintendent and Board members today. If you feel so inclined, please do the same...


Dear Dr. Atkinson and Board Members, 

As a DeKalb County resident and parent of two students in a DeKalb County school, I'm writing you to express my astonishment that taxpayer funds were mismanaged by the county to the tune of a $41 million shortfall. I'm almost speechless. Almost. As you all are well aware, this is just the latest black eye for education in DeKalb County. It's getting to the point where I am scared to open the newspaper or look online to discover what shoe is next to drop. In my children's school (Evansdale Elementary), parents donate countless hours to support the faculty and staff, donate tens of thousands of dollars to support our education foundation, and yet, we're left shaking our heads at the chronic mismanagement on the county level. We - the parents and students in DeKalb County - are your constituents, and you have to understand that we are at our wits end. Many in our neighborhood have given up on the county and enrolled their kids in private schools. I don't want to do that. My wife and I are ardent supporters of our local schools, but our children's education comes first. To say that our patience is wearing thin would be a huge understatement. 

So, I need to know - what is the plan of action to implement oversight, safeguards and accountability to ensure that a disaster of this magnitude never happens again? As you know, this past November, voters took a leap of faith to vote in another SPLOST for DeKalb education. If this $41 million debacle had come out before November, do you think that measure would have passed? Please -- don't fail our students again.

Sincerely, 

Jason Hatfield

jasonhat@gmail.com

Cell: 678.571.6723