I joked on Facebook Sunday that the Oscars reward movies that I won't see for at least three years. But it was only slightly a joke. I mean...I still have "The Dark Knight" on my shelf to watch.

The only Best Picture nominee I have seen is "Up!" and that's because I have three young kids. I also found it to be an amazing, emotional film. I was thrilled (but not surprised) when it won Best Animated Feauture.

So here are my thoughts from Oscar Night 2010:

- I wasted a half hour on the stupid red carpet show. However, Sherri Shepherd offering herself to George Clooney in front of his date was pretty cool.

- Neil Patrick Harris can, and should, open every awards show.

- Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin are masters of timing. Who knew Meryl Streep had a collection of Nazi memorabilia?

- James Cameron's ex-wife won Best Director and looked eons better than James Cameron's current emaciated wife.

- Best Supporting Actress winner Mo'Nique and Best Actress nominee Gabourey Sidibe did more for making "real women" feel as beautiful as they truly are in one night than anyone has done in a long, long time.

- Ben Stiller is game for anything.

- I no longer have a crush on Molly Ringwald.

- Macauley Culkin's touching comments about John Hughes made me feel sad for the little actor boy with awful parents.

- I was glad Missy was asleep for James Taylor's amazing acoustic version of "In My Life". She would have ruined a terrific performance with her gagging sounds.

- HDTV does not always flatter women's makeup.

- What the hell was Zoe Saldana wearing? I'm no fashionista, but yuck.

- The woman who won for Best Costume looks like our traffic producer.

- There's nothing worse than the broadcast cutting off "the little guys" who win. I mean, it's the pinnacle of their documentary/short film/editing careers! One guy says 30 seconds of thanks, turns the mic over to winner #2 and they turn it off on the dude. Lame!

- Crazy red-haired lady managed to out-Kanye Kanye West.

- The camera should not hover on Kathy Bates. She always looked ticked off.

- Why is Taylor Lautner considered good looking? That pug nose and squinty eyes are annoying!  

- I can't comment on what happened after 11:03 because I fell asleep. However, I did enjoy Sandra Bullock's speech when I saw it this morning. ''Did I really earn this,'' she asked, ''or did I just wear you all down?''

- Bullock also won a Razzie for "All About Steve"! That's gonna be an awesome trophy mantle!

- Lauren Bacall was great. She was married to freakin' Humphrey Bogart for Pete's sake! Her comment about once again having a "two legged man" in her bedroom was priceless.

- Jeff Bridges is just cool. Read the recent "Rolling Stone" article for more proof. Bridges manned up and married his wife Susan Geston when his mom told Susan she should leave Jeff.

- It's great that a woman has finally been named Best Director. Another glass ceiling falls away.

I'm sure I had more snarky comments that Missy remembers that I've already forgotten. I'll try to take notes next year!

Maybe I'll see some more of this year's nominees by then.

The other night, my three-year-old daughter woke up crying for me. It was 2:40AM and I had to stumble in and figure out what was wrong. Did she have an accident? Did she have a bad dream? Did her beloved Fluffy White Polar Bear fall out of sight and out of reach?

I went in and asked her what was wrong. At first, I couldn't understand what she was saying. Then, through her muffled sobs, my little girl said, "I don't know where I belong!"

It took a minute for this to register. At first, I wondered if she was a Cylon (a reference that only the Sci-Fi channel's "Battlestar Galactica" fans will get). Then I realized she must have seen a TV show about not fitting in and then incorporated that into a dream.

No matter what, it's not the kind of deep, self-aware thought you expect to hear from a happy, curly-haired pre-schooler.

I lay down beside Parker and stroked her blond ringlets. I assured her, in a soft voice, "You belong right here. You belong right here with me."

The next day, we celebrated my 43rd birthday. Honestly, it's not a significant date. I didn't enter a new decade. It wasn't a "5". It was just another progression into middle-age, something I accepted quite a while ago.

But every birthday, I think of my dad. I didn't know Glenn Toms because he died when I was two. Melanoma took him from my mom and me at a time when both of us needed him. From time to time, I imagine what it must have been like for dad to know that his time with us was limited. Then, immediately, the dad in me tries to block those same thoughts. It's like pulling both ends of a tug-of-war rope at the same time.

My mom was, and is, a very strong person. She did an amazing job of raising me when single moms weren't as common as they are now. Above all, we had each other.

There were many men in my life who helped fill the void left by my dad's passing. To this day, I love and admire them all. Most of those men have now also passed away, but what they did for me will always be part of who I am.

When my mom remarried, I was 13. Bob Herron filled the vacant "father-figure" role that I needed at such an awkward period of life. He was good to me, and did his best to teach me about "guy" things such as cars, ham radio and motorcycles. I even learned to scuba dive!

Then Bob passed away just before I graduated college, and another void was left behind. Again, it was mom and me taking care of each other. And while it was painful, we'd travelled that road before. I learned strength from her.

But this is the first birthday that I thought about Bob the same way I always have my dad. Glenn Toms was 27 when he died, and I have now outlived him by 16 years. Bob Herron was not quite 50 when he passed away from an undiagonised heart condition in 1989. In a few years, I will have outlived both of my fathers. 

Why do I think about this? I guess it's just human nature. We ponder mortality because it's part of who we are. We can't escape the fact that no one lives forever. We just hope to live a full life before it's "our time."

So here I am at 43, but don't really think of myself that way. Instead, I think of myself as an active father of three. I have a wife who loves me as much as I love her. I work hard for a company that I have been with for almost 13 years.

But the most important thing that I do is to help guide and teach my children to be good people. It's what Bob Herron did with me. It's what I'm told my dad would have done.

So as I lay with Parker, I continued to reassure her that she was right where she belonged.

I took a deep sigh and realized that, snuggled up with and comforting my little girl, I was right where I belonged too.

In 1984, I started my senior year in high school. Since 10th grade, I'd been working on these amazing new home computers. The Apple II and the Apple II+ were the height of technology.

Then Steve Jobs introduce the first Macintosh computer, and everything changed. We went from big floppy disks to smaller, hard-case disks.

Back then, Jobs wore a tux to unveil the latest creation. Watching this brought back a lot of memories...



Seems that Jobs doesn't take his apparel as seriously these days...



Commodore 64 anyone?

Speaking of aging, can you guys who this lady is? Click on the picture for the answer!

So for fun this weekend, we took the kids to Antarctica to see Emporer Penguins in the wild. This pic was taken as we set out from Base Camp Alpha. Our SnowCat is parked just to Gabby's left.

Actually, this is frozen Lake Erie off Rocky River Park after lunch at Danny Boy's Sunday afternoon.

I like my first explaination much better.

On Valentine's Day, Missy wanted to do something with the kids. So what happens when youR ask kids what they want to do? You go sledding!

We packed up the family truckster and headed to the Big Met golf course. The 11th hole has a GREAT sled run!


(Max, Missy, Parker and Gabby climb back up the hill. Click here for more pics!)

There are other ways to have fun in the winter. While visiting our friend Jessica in Cuyahoga Falls, Parker and Gabby got the band back together. It was Parker on reverberating microphone and Gabby on battery-powered guitar....



I think Jessica (pregnant with twins!) was enjoying the show. Don't you love the blanket capes? Kiss has nothing on these two!

Today, I took Parker to pre-school where it was "Sports Day". I was worried that Parker might negatively stand out in her Steelers jersey. But it's a Willie Parker jersey with "Parker" on the back. I mean...come on!

Turns out, I had nothing to worry about. There were three kids in Steelers jerseys. There was one in a Browns jersey. There was something a bit disconcerting about that in a Cleveland suburb.

Just the night before, Max went to the "Y" for training. He hung his jacket up in the hall...right next to a Browns jacket. Rivalry in the coat rack!



For the record, I am SO ready for winter to end.

But maybe a few more days of sledding won't hurt!

Valentine's Day is in two days. And the hell of it is, I don't even have a card for my wife yet. It's not that I haven't thought of it every day for the last week, I just haven't been able to steal away to the store to get one!

It seems like we never stop going. Between the kids, work, maintaining a respectable house, trying to stay fit and sleeping, there's not much time to browse for a statement of love.

But this whole Valentine's Day thing has me thinking. Do I take my love for granted? Short answer...no.

Missy and I have been married more than seven years and I am amazed at how our love has never faltered. In a world filled with doubt, there is none in our house. And I think that translates to our kids.

They all still give us hugs and kisses, although I didn't try to kiss Max in front of his buddy at school today (I took V-Day party supplies in for Gabby). But had his friend not been around, my nearly 11-year-old likely would have slipped me a peck.

For some reason, Parker won't say she loves us. But ever day she tells me and Missy, "I like you!" I guess that's enough...for now.

For Valentine's Day, I had planned to have an electrical box put in our kitchen ceiling so we could hang a light over the sink. Missy has complained about it being dark there for years. But once I priced it out ($150-$400, not including light), I broke down and explained my surprise plans. I didn't want to spend that much money without finding out exactly what she wanted.

So a few weekends ago, we went light shopping to see what our options were. We eventually stopped in a resale shop, and found a hanging stained-glass light that was attached to a long cord with a plug with an on-off switch. It was $100.

I talked the store down to $75, and we took the light home. It took me about 30 minutes to hang the light and run the cord down the edge of the window molding to "hide" it. There it plugs right into an outlet beside the sink.

So by revealing my secret plans, Missy and I were able to shop together and install a light for hundreds of dollars less than we had thought.



By the way, do you like the heart that Parker made in pre-school?

No, I don't take my love for granted. I embrace it every day. I don't need a "special" day in February to express my feelings. Every day is Valentine's Day for me.

But if I tell Missy I need to "run to the hardware store" this weekend, I'll probably head to Hallmark instead. Missy knows I love her, but I'll still get her a Valentine's Day card!

After all, I'm in love...I'm not stupid.

OK. I'm sorry. There. I said it.

Yet, I just KNEW this would happen. I spend a whole Tuesday afternoon telling WTAM listeners that snowmageddon is descending on us...and then *pfffft*

I mean, it did snow Tuesday. My drive home was delayed a whole ten minutes because of it. We slowed down to 40 mph on some parts of the highway.

When I left the Lakewood YMCA after my workout around 6:45, it was snowing hard. By the time Missy got home an hour later, the snow had stopped.

It never started up again.

In my newscasts Tuesday, I couldn't ignore the National Weather Service posted winter storm warnings. That would be irresponsible of me.

However...I did NOT go overboard. I informed. I passed along some information, then moved on the FOX News Radio and other local news. I only hope my TV brethren also didn't blow it out of proportion.

So I apologize if you thought you'd wake up to snow like they get in that tundra known as Washington, DC. Now those people know how to hunker down for storms!

Still, it did get cold. When my kids left for school (they all walk in Lakewood), I made sure they bundled up. That included snow pants for Gabby...



Yes, there were "A Christmas Story" flashbacks. These snow pants are so long on Gabby the cuffs are rolled up about six inches. But at least she was warm!

Max wasn't far behind in the bundle-up category....



Dig the reflective stripes!

Then there's Parker, who gets driven to pre-school. She gets to lounge a bit more. Don't you wish footie pajamas were more acceptable for adults?



So...again...sorry for the snow scare.

I'd like to say it won't happen again, but we all know that's not true.

I think that big snow storm is out there some where, with a Cleveland bullseye on it.

Sports Illustrated has unveiled the cover of the 2010 Swimsuit Issue!

 
Click here for more pictures of Brooklyn Decker!

Model Brooklyn Decker landed the coveted cover this year.

The 22-year-old wife of tennis star Andy Roddick said being chosen for the front is "the news of a lifetime."

The cover photo of Decker smiling in a yellow bikini is a departure from the more sultry look that SI had gone for the past few years, she said. She compared it to covers from the 1980s or '90s, when Elle Macpherson won her covers with a friendly, sun-loving look.

SI keeps the cover photo a secret — even from the models — until less than 24 hours before it's revealed. Decker said now the mad dash was on to find outfits for TV appearances that will come with the gig. (Her closet of swimsuits wasn't right for winter, she joked.)

As for Roddick? He's relieved the five-time SI Swimsuit model can check the cover-girl box and won't be as nervous next February when the next edition comes out.

Decker says she is an avid sports fan, and, as a teenager in North Carolina, ran hurdles for the track team, played soccer and participated in competitive cheerleading. She has no great diet or exercise secret, she said, other than to be active and eat sensibly.

"I still don't know the formula for the cover," she added. "It's luck, the perfect suit and perfect storm to get it."

Decker said, though, that because Sports Illustrated encourages a natural look — less makeup, toned muscles, curvy shape — it's easier to get a great photograph. "This celebrates the girls and their personalities. I think it's why they get such beautiful pictures."

(Copyright 2010 by the Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

What kid isn't thrilled with a new container of pomegranates? I mean... honestly... does it get any better?



My daughter is a vegetable and fruit fiend. She could happily be a vegetarian.