The first of many...

Last weekend marked the beginning of something that will continue for a very long time. My very good friend Danny's son got married to his college sweetheart! He is the oldest of all the kids in our group of many friends and this is the very first wedding amongst all of them! The wedding was in Williamsburg, VA on the HOTTEST day of the year so far. 105 degrees! Even with that though, it went off without a hitch and we certainly had a nice time.

This coming weekend we are headed out on vacation ourselves.   We're all headed down to the Outer Banks in North Carolina!   It's been awhile since we've been there and the boys are really looking forward to it.   Alex unfortunately has a big girl job and must stay home and work.   She will be missed.   We're leaving early Saturday morning and will be gone the entire week spending some quality time together!  

Harder to post!!!

Man it is really getting harder and harder to keep you up to date on what's happening in the DeWitt household!   We've been busy to say the least.   4th of July came and went.   We went downtown Frederick to see the fireworks at Baker Park.   It was hot but once the sun went down it was nice.   LOTS of people were there.

We took a little day trip out to to Deep Creek Lake a week or so ago.   We went to all our old favorites and squeezed them in in just one day!  We hit Swallow Falls, Herrington Manor, and the Honi Honi!!!!!   The kids all had a great time, especially the side trip to Candy Land!!!

A trip to CandyLand!

This past weekend I went up to NY to play golf in the 4th annual Ryan McPhee Charity Classic!    Drove up on Saturday with a couple of friends and flew back after a business side trip on Monday.   We had a good time visiting Rich and his family as well as playing golf and raising money for Camp Good Days.   It's a great charity that does wonders for kids that are impacted by cancer in their lives.

Anniversary, Dinner, and Awards

Today was a very special day. We held a surprise anniversary party for Chris's parents for their 50th wedding anniversary! It was really nice as many of their local friends and relatives were there to celebrate this special occasion. I can remember when their 25th anniversary was back in 1985. It was right before I got married and all I could think was "god that's a long time to be married"!

Wednesday evening Heather and I spent a special evening away for dinner. She wanted to do something special for me for Father's day so we went to a great restaurant in DC called OYA. It is a very modern, cosmopolitan flair type place specializing in Japanese foods. It was great. We had some sushi and some lamb chops! Delish and many thanks for the recommendation. As you can see from the picture we decided to get ourselves all cleaned up and headed for the big city!!!! We make a good couple for sure!!!

Thursday, the boys and I attended the MD/DC Credit Union Annual Awards Ceremony and handed out the 3rd Annual Christine DeWitt Memorial Award for Marketing Excellence. An award created by the League of Credit Unions to remember Chris and to award one of the many credit unions in the are that excels in the area of marketing their product and name. Something that Chris was very good at. This year the award was given out at a luncheon of about 400 people!!!!

Concert

Last night Heather and I went to Bistrow, VA and saw a concert! It was Kansas, Styx and Foreigner. All bands that I saw about 30 years ago!!! OMG that's a long time. It was her first real rock concert and she had a great time. The bands were really good and the seats were fantastic.

We got home pretty late and for 40-something year olds that can be pretty rough on the body!!!


I've been doing a lot of fix up work at Heather's house recently. Tyler, her son Nick, and I replaced and reworked all of the railings on her weathered deck. It looks much better now and is already for some paint or stain! That's the next job!
All-in-all things are going very well. Alex started a new job at a local credit union here in Frederick. She's a salaried employed with very good benefits! Great for her. She's excited and doing very, very well. Tyler and Mike are both done with school now. We're waiting on grades now. Tyler is working at Holly Hills Country Club and at the Frederick Keys. Both are part time and add up to some decent income for him. That should keep him busy for the summer. Mike is done and will be in NEED of some sort of job or community service so let me know if you need anything done!!!!

2 weeks ago Heather and her kids went with all of us to my friends in Annapolis. They had a pool party and we went. It was a great time, with great friends, and great weather.... Great opportunity for everyone to meet her children as well.

Lacrosse has finally come to a close for the spring season. We had our club picnic last friday and then we had the conference tournament on Sat/Sunday. It was an incredibly busy weekend to say the least. I have stepped down as president of Spires Lacrosse after serving for 4 years. It's been a very rewarding time for me and it has certainly helped me to get through the troubling times that I've had.

Oh yeah, last weekend I had the HONOR to take Heather's 6-year old to her daisy troops backyard campout! It was a very fun time. No rain and her daughter had a great time! She and I get along great and really enjoyed making s'mores and sitting around the fire. It was an early morning and I paid the price the next day but I'd do it again in a heartbeat....

Heather

Well if you are an avid follower of this blog you already know that I have been dating someone since September of last year. She has become and integral part of my life as well as my children's lives. We have a great deal of things in common with one another, but at the same time have differences that make us laugh and smile.

Last Friday Heather attended an American Cancer Society Relay for Life event. She ran into the person that runs everything for this area. Her name is Laurie and as she was talking to Laurie she explained that she knew me. Laurie exclaimed "You're Her! " as she has been one of those avid followers! Realizing that I have not posted an official picture of Heather yet I thought after Laurie's meeting with her that I should do so.

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce everyone to her and have posted a beautiful portrait of her from last summer. Many of you have had the chance to meet her already and we continue to see friends out and about that have not yet met her.

Life is a very tough journey, filled with many highs and many lows throughout. I have seen the lows face-to-face and never thought that I would ever see a high again. Depression is a horrible thing to deal with. Finding Heather has taken me out of the bottomless pit that I was in and put me at the top of the mountain! Life is good once again. Thank you for everyone's well wishes and continued love and support of me, my family, and now Heather.

Bringing you up to speed...

Well for the past 5 weeks or so I've spent a great deal of time dealing with lots of.... stuff! First, Alex was finishing up her final lacrosse season. Heather and I went to see her play on Saturday May 1st up in Williamsport. It was a hot day and we made the trip up and back. It was the last home game her her career so we really wanted to be there. They won that game and made it into the MAC conference playoffs for the 4th year in a row! A tough feet in that conference.

Alex had to attend a meeting at the Redskins on Monday the 3rd so she drove home on Sunday. On Tuesday I took her to her playoff game at Widener University in Philly. They won and then had to play Elizabethtown on Thurday. She went back with the team bus for the rest of the week.

Heather and I again drove up to watch the E-town game and they unfortunately lost. We stayed for the big tailgate. That was Alex's last career lacrosse game. Hard to believe that after almost 10 years of lacrosse it was finally over. It sort of hurts some but it was a wonderful thing to be a part of! 12 seniors have been a part of her career and a part of my life as well for the past 4 years and they will be sorely missed. These are the girls that stood by our family when we were in need. The entire team came to be with us in Sept. 2007 when Chris passed. A memory of support and caring that will never be forgotten. Thanks girls!!!

Alex's Graduation Day

Well after 4 years and many, many trips up to Williamsport, PA Alex finally graduated last Sunday. Of course it was only fitting that she would graduate on Mother's Day.

The boys and I went up late on Saturday to spend the night there. They went out to a movie and I went to a local establishment with Alex and thousands of other students! We had fun and it was a nice chance to see all her friends before graduation.

The weather was cold but they held the event outside on the quad anyhow. I was glad they did. It was a very nice ceremony. They open the gates at the top of the quad one time a year for commencement and all the grads walk through and down the stairs. The stairs are marked with memorial bricks and of course Alex walked right over the brick that the Lacrosse Team purchased in honor of her mother a couple of years ago. Alex's grandparents and aunt attended as well and we had a nice brunch in the cafeteria beforehand. We then went out to see the brick before the start of graduation and well it was not too easy for me. It was a very emotional day to begin with and that made it even harder.

I cried like a baby when I dropped Alex off for her first day of college 4 years. It hit me hard. This time the tears were more of joy and excitement for her and her new found future! She is home now and has secured a job working for her favorite football team, the redskins. The commute is hard but she is working hard and making the best. She'll continue to look for opportunities should they present themselves, but for now she's a working woman.

Congrats Allie!

A month without a post

This is a record and I am sorry to all my loyal blog followers. I've been very busy with the kids and my personal life. I promise to update real soon.

Catching up!

Well it has been another very fast paced couple of weeks here in the DeWitt household! I cannot tell you how fast time flies, I guess when you're having fun?! Yesterday was Easter! What a great day. We spent the entire day with Heather and her children. We went to Mass in the morning, had brunch at my house, followed by an egg hunt and a huge dinner! The kids had a good time together and the weather was just spectacular! Best Easter in a very long time!

Tyler has secured a couple of jobs for the summer! He is currently working at Holly Hills Country Club as a bag boy! Minimum wage but really good tips at times so he can easily push $15 and hour or more. In fact, Heather's son Nick also works there as a total coincidence. He's also going to be working in the Press Box at the Frederick Keys stadium on game days running the video board. He's also going to be able to operate on of the cameras as well that shows video up on the new video board. He's excited and doing pretty well.

He was in a play at church called Passion. Heather and the kids and I went to see it and cheer him on. He did a very good job and the entire production turned out very well.

Mike is out for Easter break. He' get 8 days off from Catholic School. They take it real serious vs. the 2 days off for Tyler in public school! He does have lacrosse practice and a game this week. His JV team is now 3-0 on the year. He's doing very well in fact. He's scored 2 goals and dished out an assist as well. It's funny because he is so much smaller that the large defenders that are out there. Because of that, they have a hard time keeping track of hm and he sneaks in under the radar!

He is doing pretty well in school but needs to start focusing a bit more on his homework. We'll see. I have to make a decision on his return for next year by April 12th...

Alex did not come home for Easter this year. She went to her boyfriend's house and then had practice on Easter evening. Her lacrosse season is in full swing. Heather and I took the boys up to Elizabethtown College last week to see her play. The weather was great and the drive was only 1.5 hours. Her team put out a media guide this year.

Spring has Sprung...

Well it's been a very busy couple of weeks. Last weekend my very good friends from Annapolis came up to Frederick and we continued our semi-annual tradition of going to LaPaz for dinner. We've done this for over 15 years now and have had a hard time getting together the last couple of years.

This year Heather, of course, went with us and we all crammed into my MDX and went in one car! It was a hoot. Dinner was great, company was great, and Brenda scored a bunch of napkins!!!!

Lacrosse has started full swing for everyone. This week Heather and I drove up to Lycoming to watch Alex's team play Susquehanna They lost but we had a great drive up and back and took Alex and Cory out to dinner to the Bullfrog Brewery. Two days later Michael and I drove up to watch them play Widener. An exciting game but unfortunately they lost. We stayed after for awhile and had a bite to eat at the team tailgate, then went over to Alex's dorm and hung out there for a little while before making the trek home.

Michael's name was in the newspaper the other day for the highschool team. They had their first game and the coach allowed him and 9 other underclassmen to travel with the team. They did not play but it was a very good learning experience for him. He has been practicing very, very hard and is looking forward to his first JV game this coming Saturday. He's put a lot of work into it and hopefully he'll see some reward for it. He's also been working fairly hard to get his grades where I expect them. I may be a little hard but... I also pay the tuition.

Tyler does have his license and has taken over the very tedious chore of picking up Michael from his various practices and the like. He starts work this week at a couple of venues so hopefully he'll be making some cash to put gas in the car he drives. I've allowed him to drive my Nissan Maxima. It's a 2000 and had very low miles on it. Hopefully, he can keep it in good condition for a lot longer. He's working at the golf course and for the Frederick Keys this summer. He'll also be doing son lacrosse officiating as well. Hopefully, he'll save some money as well!

I'm doing okay. Still playing basketball and maintaining the weight loss. I'm feeling very good compared to this time last year when I was at an all-time low. Spring is coming and I'm looking forward to getting outside and working in the yard and all that. Heather and I have been dating for over 6 months now. It's very hard to believe for sure but everything has been going splendidly. We see each other regularly and that helps a lot. Work? That's another story.... TBD. I'll keep you posted.

St. Mary's Pink Out Game

This came to me this morning from the coach at St. Mary's College of Maryland

THIS SUNDAY!:

Sunday, March 28, 2010

The women’s lacrosse team at St. Mary’s College of Maryland will be holding its 2nd Annual Breast Cancer Awareness Lacrosse Game vs. Salisbury University at 2 pm at Seahawk Stadium in beautiful St. Mary’s City.

This game will be played in remembrance of Christine A. DeWitt, the mother of a player I once coached, who lost her life to this disease last year as well as all individuals affected by breast cancer. The lacrosse team will be selling T-shirts in order to raise funds for Climb for Hope, a division of breast cancer research that Christine believed in very strongly.

Climb for Hope was organized to raise and channel funds towards targeted and promising research in the fight against breast cancer. Its mission is to find a viable treatment for breast cancer within the next three years. In the past two years, the organization has raised over $550,000 for a vaccine being developed at Johns Hopkins University by Dr. Leisha Emens. This research will one day allow patients to successfully battle the disease using a specialized vaccine in conjunction with lower doses of chemotherapy. Not only does the vaccine address some of the most aggressive and lethal forms of breast cancer, but the research is expected to promote treatment advances for many forms of cancer as well. (www.climbforhope.com).

To purchase a pink lacrosse T-shirt, please contact Kara Reber at klreber@smcm.edu or by phone at 240-895-3304. Shirts are $10 and come in adult S, M, L, XL, XXL. Cash donations are also welcome. Pre-sale orders are due by tomorrow 3/23, otherwise you may get one at the game.

We would like for you to wear your pink T-shirt to our game on the Sunday as we would like to have a “pink-out” of the stadium. Our goal is to raise over $3,000.00.

Please join us for this event and help support a cause that affects many of our lives.

See you at the game!

Lax Season Begins

Well last Saturday marked the beginning of Alex's final season as a lacrosse player! They had a game at McDaniel College which is not too far from our house.

Heather, Michael, and I made the journey up there and met up with Alex's grandparents and Uncle. Although the outcome was not good, it was a good chance to see her and her teammates.

After the game the team went to Harrisburg to the airport and flew out to Dallas, TX for spring break! They played 2 games down there and are coming back today. Their conference opener is next Saturday up by NYC.

At the same time, Michael continues to practice with the St. Johns Catholic Prep lacrosse team. He is a midget amongst giants as the JV and Varsity practice together. He is doing very well and hopefully the snow will go away and they can begin practice on the real grass soon!!!

Last Sunday Michael was confirmed to the Catholic Church and is now part of the St. Johns parish in Frederick. Tyler was his sponsor and both did a great job. After the mass we went to his favorite spot for dinner. A local Japanese Steak house!

Tyler? OH MY! He finally got around to taking his driver's test yesterday and passed on the first try! So of course my life and wallet are now changed forever! He'll be driving the Maxima and picking up Mike as much as possible. No more needs for rides to church and all of that! Life is a little easier on me now. I hope! He also got a job at Holly Hills Country Club as a cart attendant or something like that. He has a friend that works there who put in a good word for him and in fact, Heather's son also works there too! I hope that this occupies a great deal of his time this summer! He also put an application into the Frederick Keys and will be working there some during the summer as well.



Me? Hmmm.... I'm busy running ragged. But I'm doing very well. I still play basketball 3 days a week. I've lost a total of 22 pounds (give or take) and feel great. I've had to buy new clothes as my old ones were too big AND I'm actually wearing suits and slacks from 6 years ago that now fit perfectly again!!!! I see Heather on a very regular basis and Life is very, very good.

Busy Birthday !

Got home late from Biloxi. Good to get away and not have to run around doing stuff, but having to worry about the boys was tough. Michael had rides to school in the morning from his Uncle and Heather picked him up each day! A great relief to have someone home to help out! It took a lot of pressure off my shoulders for sure.

Saturday was my 48'th birthday. I've not been one to celebrate birthdays in the past and especially the last couple of years. This year I have to say was one of the best that I can remember in a long time. Heather bought me a few wonderful presents and she and I went to my good friend Danny's 50th surprise birthday party. I didn't feel so old after I went to his party!!!

I bought her tickets to the John Mayer concert for Christmas. Saturday she and I went. Before the concert she took me out to dinner to Old Ebbits Grill right by the White House in DC. Great dinner and we had a wonderful chat during it as well. After the dinner we went to the concert. Michael Franti and Spearhead was the opening act. They were great. Very energetic and he doesn't wear shoes!

After that John Mayer came out and put on one of the best concert shows I've seen. I've seen a lot that is for sure and this just caught me by surprise. The verizon center was sold out and we had great seats. It was a great birthday present for sure. One I won't forget.

This week Alex's lacrosse team is preparing for their opening game at McDaniel in Westminster, MD. Here is a great preseason writeup about them. Alex is one of the 3 team captains this year and after starting each game last year she should be doing the same this year as well. This year brings about 13 seniors back. These are girls from a huge recruiting class that her 1st coach brought in. Should be a great season!

Mike also has started his lax season at St. Johns. Lot's of practice so far and that's a good thing!

Out of town in Biloxi, MS

Well after 80" of snow this season I was ready to get out. The boys have been out of school since February 5th!!! We have been buried and have about 40" on the ground. It's not melting at all and the kids cannot get to school.

Finally today Michael went to St. Johns and Tyler goes in tomorrow, albeit 2 hours later.

I am currently in Biloxi, Mississippi. I get to add another state to those that I've visited. Very pretty down here but they were wiped off the map by Katrina before. The hotel I am in, the Beau Rivage, was totally wiped out, as was the new Hard Rock hotel next door. Both are open and doing well. I'm here for a small trade show and hoping to drum up some business.

Getting here is not the hard part. The hardest part is not being at home to make sure that the boys are where they need to be when they need to be! I had to find rides for Michael to school from his Uncle Ken who works right down the street from St. Johns. My girlfriend Heather was able to pick him up each day and bring him home. This was made even trickier as he now stays late for Lacrosse practice! She has been a great help to me in situations like this and has made this trip so much easier to make than the ones I've done in the past. Our good friends on our street are also looking out for them too, but this time the boys stepped up and stayed at home for 2 nights alone. Not a big deal but definitely something we had to work out.

Alex's first lacrosse game of the season is coming up on Feb 27'th at McDaniel College in Westminster. For those interested the game starts at 1pm. There will be a tailgate afterwards for the girls and if you would like to participate then just say so and bring a dish for the girls and dig in with them! Alex is one of the Captains this year and it is looking like an exciting season for the 12 graduating seniors this year. After their game they are headed to Harrisburg and fly out to Dallas for their spring break. They play 3 games in Texas along with some fun time I'm sure.

Busy week this week for sure with all the travel. This Friday is my birthday, and Saturday Heather and I are going to the John Mayer concert in DC. I bought her tickets for Christmas and she's taking me out to dinner for my birthday beforehand. Should be a good time!

Blizzard of 2010

Oh my! We got hammered on Saturday with almost 30" of snow!!!! It started Friday night and just kept coming until late Saturday afternoon! We were trapped in the house for the entire day. Snow plows didn't show up until Late Saturday night!

Lots of shoveling and lots of shoveling!!!

Here's some pics but there are more on our Picasa page.

Having a little fun!

Lycoming Lax gears up

Alex's lacrosse team voted her to be one of the team captains this year! A very nice honor for her. Here is a picture of her new uniform too! Go 25...

What's up?

Okay... It's been a couple of weeks since I've posted anything worthwhile on my blog. I know, I know, that makes for boring reading and for that I'm sorry. But, things have been going pretty well around here.

This weekend Tyler and Michael went away for Michael's confirmation retreat. They were gone from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. Tyler was the retreat leader and Michael was an attendee. All went well.

This gave me a weekend off which, let's just say, I really, really needed. I spent some time away and some time around here but all in all it was just a very well spent time which I will not forget for a long time.

We got hit with about 6" of snow on Saturday which of course brought the area to a standstill! It's going to be cold for awhile so it should stick around for a few days.

What's new? Not much.... Alex has started practice for lacrosse. This is her final season and she was voted as one of the team captains this year. She's excited and so am I for her. Can't wait to visit and watch her and her team play this year. Tyler is finishing up driver's ed and should be getting his driver's license in a couple weeks! Yeah, I'm not looking forward to it but at the same time I really am as I could use the help with all the driving I have to do. Michael finished up midterms at St. Johns and did pretty well for his first semester. His lacrosse season begins in a few weeks and he is really looking forward to it as well. It will be a big adjustment for him as catholic high school lacrosse is pretty competitive. He's small but bounces up pretty quickly when knocked down.

Me? I run all over taking Michael to and from school each day. I'm also, running Tyler all over for school and church as well. Work is going well. Last year was a killer with the recession but personally I'm doing well enough to get through as is the company so hopefully this year we'll see a turnaround. I'm going on a business trip in Feb for a couple days to Biloxi, MS... I am still playing basketball at the YMCA 3 days a week at lunch. I've met a lot of good friends there and it is an incredible workout for sure. I've lost 18 pounds since last September! I'm sort of stuck on the 18 pound mark but for now I'll take it!

Heather and I continue to enjoy relationship beyond belief. We both enjoy one another's families and see each other quite a bit during the week. Often it may only be for a few minutes but that has been great for us to be able to spend time getting to know each other. We had a wonderful December and January has just flown by!!! We take each day one by one, getting to know another better and better each day. We have a busy month ahead and are going to see a special concert right after my birthday... More on that later.

Keep in touch and I'll do my best to keep you all posted on the goings on here in the DeWitt household...

Cheers.

Making the Rink Pink

Well I am now the proud owner of a #25 Jason Spivak Pink RIT hockey jersey!

Check out all the jerseys here.... Mine is on the way. I know they raised a bunch of money for a very, very good cause. I'll post a picture when it arrives!

Pink Rink

RIT Hockey is have a Pink Rink day to raise funds for breast cancer! That is my alma mater from 1985!!!