Episode 2: Coming Full Circle

(upbeat music) Hey everyone, welcome back. Welcome back to the second episode. If you're back again, that means you at least somewhat enjoyed the first one and you're giving me a second chance. So I appreciate that. Who can we avoid the sophomore slump for round two? We got a couple things we gotta cover today. One of which is something that we used to love and we're gonna kind of bring back from the dead. When I say we're in this case, I mean me and my siblings. Also, we gotta cover some housekeeping stuff and then a coming full circle moment and also Mother's Day as well. So first off, something we're bringing back from the dead. When we, I think it was the Christmas of 1998, what we decided on. We went down to the tree for a Christmas morning. This time I was eight, my brother was seven. My sister was quite a bit younger, too younger for this part of it. But I don't remember how it went, but I think there was a note or some sort of indication that we had to go look in the garage for a present. And we went out there and there was with two giant bows on it, a giant go kart. And when I say go kart, it's probably comparable right now to what many people would think of as side by sides. It had a bench seat in it, it had a roll bar over the top and it was probably eight feet long. So a pretty big little device, maybe around the size of a golf cart, but it had a gas engine and that thing could fly. I mean, especially for being eight years old, I'd be able to ride in this go kart. I mean, we took it out right away. It was snowy, I remember it was cold, but with coats and everything, we were out there. And I remember having so many childhood memories around this thing. I mean, summer days when school got out, we'd have friends over, we'd set up tracks and courses. We would take this go kart everywhere. And we'd be out there first day in the morning. We'd make several different rounds a day. We were very lucky to grow up on a farm with a lot of land. And around this farm too, there's sheds and there's tracks and hills and ditches. And we made the most out of all of it. It was really, really cool because we'd have friends over. It was meant for two people. We'd pile four or five people in. I think it was our top mark. And I say there would be hills. And if you could get up to the top of that hill, and just bomb down it, I mean, you could exceed the top speed of that thing by quite a bit. And I loved it. Like I said, a critical part of my childhood for me and my brother and then ultimately I sister as well. And then lately, we've been taking Emmy down to my parents' house down to the farm. And she'll go and walks with Noanie, her grandmother. And this go kart now is kept in a shed, kind of about a quarter mile from the house. And they would go on a walk and they'd go into the shed. And they'd see the go kart. And it doesn't look like anything at this point. I mean, as much as we wrote it, we haven't wrote it in at least 20 years, 25 years. And it's been borrowed by some of the people in that time, but it's sitting in a shed. So it is covered in dirt. It doesn't look like it would run at all. I mean, it looks like an old piece of equipment in the shed. But it must have some sort of aura around it because Emmy loves it. And we're at Noanie's house. She's like, go, go walk over there and see go kart. So I realized we're getting close to summer. And that would be a really good time to pull it out and see if we get this thing to work again. Because like I said, Emmy's two years old and her cousin, my brother's daughter is three months younger than her. So they're getting close to that age, not old enough to drive themselves. But at that age where they would love being on a fitness thing and drive around. So when we were down there last weekend, we went over and we had to pull it out of the shed, kind of roll it out. And my brother and my dad were there to help out and get it blew it off. And they were trying to work on how to make it run against. We could get it to the house and we could power wash it off. And, you know, sure enough, it's been sitting over there long enough that it, they could barely get it to start. But when they did get to start, there was no juice. When you push down on the gas, some of the belts wouldn't close properly. Honestly, I don't know the details of it. That's not my deal. Let's work Garrett and Dad shine. But we're able to go online and find some parts for it and get them ordered and they've since arrived. But we got it out. We pushed it home. It's been all cleaned up. So now we're getting close. Now we just need a day where we can go, get all the parts put on there, get Emmy and Evelyn, suit it up and take them for a ride. And I'm so excited about it. Again, this is such a critical part of our childhood to be able to share that with the girls and, you know, their other cousins and Gabrielle Winch-Dilder will be so, so cool. And it's also one of those things too that it's safe enough that you can't roll it over. It's got a roll bar on it. And honestly, I say it goes fast. It's a grand scheme of things. It doesn't go fast enough to roll itself over. But it'll be a really cool thing as they get older to try out and give a shot too. So we're excited about that. Second thing I wanted to cover is just a little bit of housekeeping with this podcast. I don't doubt for a second that I'm at some point going to reference my job. And I feel like I need to describe that to some degree because no one, someone's one of my family has any idea like truly what I do. I feel like my job is a lot like Chandler's job in France. Like, everyone knows there's a job there, but no one knows how to describe it. And that's pretty much part of the course. I feel like, unfortunately, the joke around, I'm an occupational therapist. And we're taught in school how to give an elevator speech of this job because no one knows what it is. Part of my job is e-vailing new families. And I ask them when they come in, like, do you have any idea why you're here? Do you know what occupational therapy is? And 95% of the time they have no idea. So I got to describe why they're even for an appointment. So to describe it here, I feel like my quick way of describing what people ask in the grocery store, for example, is I work with kids with special needs and disabilities. And my job is to figure out where the deficits are. And usually that's, you know, they're referred by a doctor, by a provider. And we might be working on fine motor skills, which is, you know, things for school. Being able to use scissors, pencils, being able to draw and color inside the lines. And even the little things on, you know, can they do legos, for example, if those motor skills aren't in place, that's going to be really difficult. And we work on, we work on a variety of types of skills. We work on things that are about sensory processing and social interaction skills and social emotional and visual perceptual skills. A bunch of different things. But long story short is we basically find play-based strategies to make these things fun to learn. And I very lucky that I get to work every day in this space. It's basically like a gym. And when I say gym, there are swings and slides and monkey bars and crash pads and rock walls. It's super rad. So it's really cool to be a place where, when I have my patients, they look forward to it. I mean, it's very routine that family's like, oh, he's so excited for Miles Day. He's so excited to be here. He's been looking forward to it all week. It's so cool to have a job and to have the opportunity where kids, you know, you're like, highlight of their week. Which is awesome. And it also comes with some level of expectations. I mean, it's, on some level, I feel like I'm an entertainer all day long because I've got these patients that come in on the hour, every hour. And it's my job to kind of run the session to make sure we address all of their goals and to make it fun for them. And especially in these cases, to kind of live with those expectations. So they want to come back because they're not interested in it. The parents aren't going to be interested. And then, you know, I'm going to be out of a job. So it's a lot of entertaining for lack of a better where's how I kind of feel like it is. So I'm on all day, every day in these cases. Which is sometimes hard because I go home exhausted and I feel bad because then my wife has to put up with that. And it's nothing, it's her. It's like, I feel like I've used up all my social energy at that point that it's just like, all right, we got to try and get through the evening, recharge and get back out to the next day. Or like it's the Friday evening. It's like she wants to go out and do things and understandably so. But by then, I feel like I'm so socially fried that it takes a minute. But it's a small price to pay for having a really cool job and getting to work with kids in these ways. And to be able to see and make such a difference, I think is such a gift. And I feel like I'm so lucky to have that chance. But it's like a short version of what I do. So when I reference that, I work with kids in these ways and it's all play based and it's fun. And there's a lot of stories that come out of it. I want to tell some, it's tricky because there's, believe it or not, safety laws or health, hippelaws around what I can share, what I can't, so I have to be very careful about it. But it's pretty sweet. It's a pretty sweet gig and I feel very lucky to have it. So when I reference it, that's what it is. Okay, next. Let's go here first. I feel like I had a very coming full circle life moment the other day. I referenced last episode that I'm doing this because I've got somebody who kind of do the same thing. They have podcasts, they talk about their life and their families and stories and memories and that's really what inspired me to do that. And I feel like the main player in this is Sean Whitmer. He is, if you want to check out his podcast, it's fantastic. I grew up listening to him on the morning radio show, with the Jane Kevin show. And this goes as far back as when I was like 10, 11, 12 years old. So it's been a long time coming. And back then, I was so shy and quiet. I remember like listening to these guys and thinking, "Man, they were some of my idols back then. "I wanted to be like them." And I paid attention so closely. I feel like I was, we're gonna talk about this in a different episode. But I remember trying, realizing this, I can't go through my life being this shy. I've got to figure it out. I've got to figure out how to A, speak to people and get the confidence to do so. And I remember these guys, these three guys, Jake Hellen and Sean, the guy who does his podcast, they were so good at it that I would, sometimes I write down what they'd say or questions that they'd ask. And I would try to, I feel like almost use those personalities as my own. And I feel like being able to listen to them especially in the summer times when driving truck or driving around the fields all summer long. I have those opportunities and they've made such a difference. But anyways, fast forward a couple years and I got the chance to meet them and go on a trip with them as part of Slim's Big Adventure. We followed Gonzaga and March Madness down to Salt Lake City and we road-tripped it with three of them and several other people and another one of my friends. Carly, but we went on this Big Adventure and I got to hang out and got to get to know them pretty well. And then because of that relationship, I also got to go on the radio show for several other situations, whether it was, I got a couple Christmas shows or when I went on to talk about my trip to Paris to meet my eventual wife. I got to kind of develop a relationship with these guys. So again, fast forward now to now where I put up my last podcast and then on his most recent one and also through text, like Sean's been text to me that he's done a great job and he wants to send me ideas and be helpful and be that guy and just having him of all people saying that my podcast is good. I feel like I've come full circle from having these guys and he's going to hate me saying this that I feel like I idolized and still do. So having one of them and Sean of all of them say that I feel like I'm doing a good job with someone that is right in his wheelhouse. I feel like I've been working towards for forever being able to talk and communicate and not be shy. I feel like I've done I feel like I've kind of come full circle in that way. So it's been really cool just in this one episode of the podcast to have achieved that. I feel like I've kind of accomplished something I've been working for forever. And him saying those very kind words both on his podcast and also through text was fantastic. So thank you Sean. I appreciate it. You have been instrumental in this and obviously clearly inspiration to this entire thing from the get go. Moving on without that little crutch there. One thing before we do sound bites with Emmy with Mother's Day now depending on when you listen to it having come or having gone. I have to give a shout out to my wife. I mean of course my own mother I've had a fantastic childhood. I have nothing but glowing memories and she's done nothing but the best. She's clearly crafted me who I am today and I'm so grateful for having all that she did all the sacrifices that she made to allow me my brother and sister the life that we had is fantastic. And I hope that goes without saying mom that you realize that. And also of course shout out to the new moms over the last year. My sister is now a mom. My sister-in-law not in last year but Emmy's cousin obviously is now a mom and so many other. I feel like I'm surrounded by new moms at this point and it's shout out to all of them. But first and foremost and most of all to my own wife I mean the sacrifices. I love that you realize this like even as a kid growing up like the level of sacrifice. Especially like just going through the birthing process and the pregnancy process my wife has had like she has done so well at being so selfless and sacrificing so much. I mean everything from the nausea to you know the all limitations that pregnancy kind of comes with the inability to eat sushi or drink wine to limit coffee intake or caffeine intake in general. That's a long nine months and now she's done it multiple times and as a father obviously there's nothing I can do to even begin to replace that or to replicate that and then of course to go through the whole labor and delivery process that is wild. I remember when Emmy's born like I had no idea what to expect and it was certainly not that and that again that sacrifice of going through that when there's nothing I can do to begin to match that is amazing. So starting with that and of course all the sacrifices that come and come along the way between you know I feel like her her brain is the brain in our relationship that makes sure that Emmy has everything that she needs and when we go places that everything is packed for her and now Gabriela's well everything that she manages and the sacrifices and everything she takes on is something I can never begin to replicate or even pay back so the appreciation is it goes beyond words there's no way with me flumbling through this right now that I can begin to describe how much I appreciate that and how much sacrifice you make so thank you babe of all the things that you do it's there's nothing I can do to say thank you enough for how much you help Emmy and Gabri and how they are definitely who they are today because because of you Gabri who she is today because she's all seven months seven weeks old but thank you babe I appreciate it okay last but not least Emmy's sound bites there's I got to begin one of them was for this first one was a song that she was singing where she learned it I think it was because sometimes like with Gabri we have to like help her burp and get gas out and part of that is like shaking her booty and Emmy has crafted this into a song at least as far as I know and just randomly like every time they're willing to just be walking around and singing it and this is an example of her walking around and singing singing this song and there it is and then one more the second one is this was like an everyday moment I was trying to think is something else I could record and then this just kind of came up very naturally we were just in the kitchen and I was helping get breakfast and I was doing my own thing and then she was kind of calling me over and asking about stuff and then I just I got my phone really quick I hit record and this is kind of what came out of it and I thought it was listening back super sweet and just a very good example of who Emmy is and a very very quick snapshot it's the best I feel like maybe if nothing else someday when I listen back to these things just being able to pull back those sound bites is going to be as good as it gets cool we're going thank you all for listening I appreciate it we're going to try and keep this thing going two weeks down hopefully many many more to come hopefully this is provided entertainment and I hopefully have done my job hopefully I've done my job of making this worthwhile for you hey y'all take care have a great day thank you all so much bye