It feels weird to literally just be hanging out this week after Christmas without a schedule or ‘to do’ list I’ve been running none stop this whole year that this just feels strange to me..but I am totally enjoying it.

I’ve had a lot of surprises and extra commitments that have set me back on writing and recording new music, BUT I’ve written some great songs and a lot of new ideas just keep flowing. I’ll sit down to work on one, then another song presents itself, takes a life of it’s own and once it’s finished, I still have the original idea, ready and waiting for me to work on!

I’m looking forward to the new year when I can start recording and laying tracks for all these songs. I’ve also got a great guitar player I am collaborating with and we have some cool ideas we’re working on. It will nice to get back in the saddle!

I’ve wanted to post this for a while because it was such an amazing experience. My wife has had multiple surgeries this year due to cancer, just finished chemotherapy and has another surgery coming up in October. Through it all, she has been awesome though it’s definitely taken its toll on her and her recovery.

What has really been humbling for me is to see the women in our neighborhood and her friends rally around and support her. This by itself has truly been a Godsend, and makes me infinitely grateful for all the love they have shown. But just as women do, they didn’t stop there. Without our knowledge, they began putting together a fundraiser for Lori.

About 2 weeks before it was scheduled to happen, I started to see some of what they had been planning. I helped them wrap up a few things but it wasn’t until that Saturday morning when we started setting up that I realized just how much they had actually planned. I was completely blown away. It was a humbling, uncomfortable and gratifying experience all at the same time that is hard to describe.

As the day unfolded there were more and more surprises. They had put together an elaborate children’s carnival with all sorts of games, prizes, treats, balloon animals and so on.

There was a bake sale that would rival any professional bake shop and all of it was amazing. They had a silent auction with hundreds of donations given from individuals and local businesses including a new Ipad2, Self-reliant shelving, all sorts of gift cards, passes, and the list goes on and on.

They had face painting, hair and feather extensions, and even glitter toes. They had an elaborate boutique, concessions, NYPD pizza, cotton candy, snow cones, the works.

Then they had a special appearance from Snow White! You should have seen these little girls glow as they got their pictures taken with her. She would have out done the real Snow White any day!

Finally they ended the evening with the movie Tangled on a big inflatable theater screen. The whole experience was surreal. It was hard to wrap my head around it and realize that people cared so much for Lori and our family, that they would selflessly do all this for her.

Because of all those that have shown so many acts of kindness (both big and small) to our family this year, I wrote a song specifically for them called “Thank You”. It was surprisingly difficult to write, simply because it is near impossible to truly express the intimate gratitude I feel for everyone. I found I could not adequately express how even the smallest acts of kindness miraculously softened even the most difficult experiences.

There is simply no way to say thank you enough. But I’m still going to try, and music is the closest way I know how. I’m working on getting it recorded now and I’ll give it away to everyone once it’s done.

Thank YOU.

I’ve learned a few tricks on how to save money over the years and the difference between ‘needs’ and ‘wants’… Well more like what do I really need and what do I really want..that’s the same thing, right?

Here’s a video on how I finished my basement for under 70$. Enjoy