School's out...forever!

Far be it from me to quote Alice Cooper's most famous song, but truer words have never been spoken this day. I finished my last class of formal education, completing the requirements for my MBA at the University of Southern California. I envisioned leaving class with fanfare in the background as I walked out of class in slow motion high fiving classmates as I passed. But it was really anticlimactic...imagine that! I celebrated finishing my last night in school by sitting in traffic heading to my family. I was rewarded by my son wanting to put on all 13 new pair of underwear.

It's been a two and a half year process going part time two or three nights a week - and by so doing winning no husband or father of the year awards. But it's been worth it for me as this has been a life long goal.

Anyway, so I'm open for any suggestions on how to best fill my time. I plan to spend more time at home and finally get back to reading for fun. Any other ideas?

The First of Our Lasts...

Today was our last home football game before graduation and before our move to Japan. In a way, this marks the beginning of a lot of "lasts" for us. These games have been fun because we've been able to do it as a family and I think Anthon loves it more than Shelley and I do. This morning, as Anthon was waking up, he called out from his crib, "Hey guys, I'm reeeady!" When we went in there to ask what he was ready for, he replied, "SC Game...eat nachos." Yes, he was ready...and yes we did eat nachos. He was giving bones to the kids around us and showing off his two finger "fight on" skills.

Anthon also has impressive skills at listening and repeating - much to our dismay sometimes. Upset at a certain call that went against USC, the student section began to yell in unison, "b***s***" - many times over. Anthon, ever the student of things that come out of my mouth that I say in haste, starts saying, "ullshi, ullshi, ullshi!" Though he doesn't know what those words mean, for the most part people are actually pretty respectful when Anthon's around. He's pretty interactive and animated at the games so people tend to watch what they say a bit more...so that has made the environment around us a bit better.

Poor UCLA, they couldn't even put up enough of a showing to keep my son awake, however. UCLA's 12 yards of total rushing offense lulled my boy into a good 45 minute nap from the second quarter into half time. The USC win means another Rose Bowl game and maybe one last game before we hit the road. Shelley and I thought that maybe our second child would be a bit disadvantaged because he/she wouldn't be in on all the fun we had at USC's football games. Maybe we have to become Tokyo Giants fans.

So, We're Parents of an Axe Murderer?

File this story under the "wait and see" category because we can't be sure what path Anthon will travel down in his life. He can be a doctor or lawyer, or anything he wants to be. A sword wielding limb dismemberer can't be ruled out quite yet, either. We didn't know Anthon had channeled King Arthur from Monty Python's Holy Grail, but he seems to take a keen liking to using his foam USC Trojan sword, donated by the man sitting next to us at the USC vs. Oregon State game, to hack at our friends Jono and Jill.

On our way to church the next day, after a fun weekend with Jill and Jono had come to an end, a visibly sad Anthon clutched to his foam sword in the car and kept saying in a very sad voice, "Jill, Jono, slice."

We'll have to keep an eye on Anthon to see if he displays any more of this child-like glee over de-limbing people. Just as a precaution, however, Shelley and I are making sure the Cutco knives aren't anywhere within grabbing distance!

Click on the picture below to see Anthon play Hack-a-Jono with a foam Trojan sword.

It's That Time of Year...

Fall started to be a really good time of year for the Cannon family back in 2005. It was then that Shelley and I were FINALLY able to cheer for the same college football team. Before then, life was tough. In what could only be described as a Mormon version of West Side Story, or Romeo and Juliet, Shelley and I fell in love and got married despite me (and my entire family going back generations!) having graduated from the University of Utah (Capulets, anyone?) and Shelley graduating from Brigham Young University (When you're a Jet, you're always a Jet!) As I type this I can just see a premise for one of those LDS-themed movies.


As a diehard Ute fan, I think I've come a long way in calming my feelings about "the rivalry". I've actually attended the same number of BYU football games live as I have Utah games since getting married (2). And I no longer openly cheer for the opposing team at those games. Though, my internal thoughts are another matter...but it's a baby-steps process, right? And finally I think I'm pretty good at not making snide remarks about BYU's football team to my son. Though I can't say the rest of my family abides by the same law. When Anthon and I returned home from the Utah/UCLA game a few weeks back, Anthon had learned the phrase, "BYU, stinks, P.U.!" and then he pinches his nose and makes a stinky face. I didn't teach him that...but I didn't not condone it either.

So we're back to bipartisan support for a common collegiate football team - USC, after two weeks of seeing BYU and Utah play live. And I have to say it's much better being on the same team.

As a postscript to all of this, it's always fun to really know when your kid has had a good time. Anthon woke up in the middle of the night after the game screaming because his leg got caught in his crib. As Shelley was trying to put him back down, Anthon kept saying things like "football game...fun," "go go SC!," and "more horsey" (the last one referencing Traveler the SC mascot that gets trotted out after each touchdown.) It's cute to see him verbalizing all the fun memories he had from the night.

I uploaded a short video of Anthon from the USC game, as well as a photo gallery of the three games. Please check them out.