blog.LAZARIDES.us

Alana Graduated from College!

2023-05-16T16:39:00.161-04:00

Alana Graduated from College!

My oldest child—and only daughter—Alana, graduated from Kent State University on Friday, May 12, 2023! This is an amazing milestone in her life.

First of all, it was not easy. She had to work her way through college, with a full course load. Andrea and I helped where we could.

Alana had quite the varied living experience while attending Kent State:

She commuted from North Canton to Kent for a year
She lived at the Honors College dorm for a semester
She telecommuted when the pandemic closed down the campus
And for two years she lived in an off-campus apartment.

She did not have a car, so she had to walk from her off-campus housing, to her classes on campus, and to her jobs. On an average day for her, she would walk tens of thousands of steps!

Early Alana

When Andrea was still pregnant with Alana, I would read "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss to her usually once a day. Right after Alana was born (this was within the first few minutes of her birth), she was kind of fidgeting and looking around; I started quoting "Green Eggs and Ham" and she stopped and just looked right at me as though she figured out that it was me that was speaking those words for those many months.

I knew Alana was smart at an early age. She was walking by 7 months, and was talking well enough to carry on conversations when she was a toddler. She always loved when we would read to her, which we did every night. When we read stories to her, we would make our voices change for each character that is speaking, and give the proper emphasis on the words to convey the intended emotion. As she was learning to read we would have her read some of the simple Dr. Seuss, then harder things as time went on. To this day, she still loves reading. When I hear her reading to her younger brother I love to hear her make her voice change for each character that is speaking, and give the proper emphasis on the words to convey the intended emotion. She really makes a story come to life.

For the first two years of Alana's life she did not watch television. After she was 2 we let her start watching some television, she chose to watch shows like Rugrats, Sesame Street, Word World, Dora the Explorer, and Arthur.

One time, when she was 3 or 4, I took her out to the park across the street from our house. I was playing with her for a while, then she stopped and asked, "Why is the sky blue?" That is not a very unusual question for children to ask, but how she was just looking at me and taking in the entire explanation seemed unusual for someone her age.

I explained how the sun gives off light that is white, and that white light actually has all of the colors that we can see in it. When the light goes through the atmosphere, part of the light gets scattered in a way that the blue portion of the light is made visible. At that point she still seemed enthralled with what I was saying so I went into a simple explanation of how a prism works (some of you might recall what the Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the Moon" album cover looked like), and how tiny water droplets do the same thing as a prism when they are up in the sky and the sun shines through them to make a rainbow.

All that time she was taking in every word, and working it out in her head … at the age of 3 or 4!

When Alana started school, she was always smart. Even so, I told her that if she did not understand something, that she should ask about it. I told her that nobody knows everything—that is why we go to school, to learn everything we can. I also told her that she is probably helping other students by asking her questions.

After she started reading books on her own, I would often find her reading at night—long after I tucked her in to bed.

Gifted and Talented

It was not long into her school career that she tested into the "Gifted and Talented" classes (I think that was in the second grade). One of the things she learned there was to never do the bare minimum in whatever is assigned to you, but to always go beyond what is required. She seems to apply that in many aspects of her life. I believe that her "Gifted and Talented" teacher—Mrs. Geckler—helped inspire Alana to keep learning as much as she could.

Smile

by Alana Lazarides (age 7)

Every once in a while,
Let out a little smile.
So when you're feeling blue,
Just remember you are you,
And give a little smile.

It may seem very small,
Maybe you think it doesn't matter at all.
If you do, you'd be very, very wrong,
And don't worry, it doesn't take long.
So smile a little smile.

Near the end of elementary school, a teacher—Mrs. Willoughby—told Alana that she would not always be getting A’s, and that she should accept that. When Alana told us about that conversation, the way that she described it to us, it sounded like the teacher might have been jealous, or angry, that Alana kept getting A’s. It seemed like a strange conversation for a teacher to have with a student, as though she was trying to crush Alana’s spirit. We told Alana that it may—or may not—turn out that way, and no matter what grade she brought home we will still be proud of her. Alana just kept doing what she was good at, bringing home A’s.

On her 8th Grade trip to Washington D.C., they made a special visit to the Library of Congress because one of the teachers knew how much reading, books, and libraries meant to Alana. So, the entire class got to go to the Library of Congress because one of the teachers knew that Alana would want to go there.

All through public school she was always in the most advanced levels of the classes that were available. In college she was in all of the Honors versions of the classes that were available. If there was ever an option to do any extra credit work, she would almost always do it also—even though she did not need to.

When teachers/professors would put her into groups of other students where they would have to work on a project together and the group earned the grade as a whole. I imagine that the other kids must have loved to be in a group with Alana because she would not let them bring her grade down, she would end up re-doing most of the work that was supposed to be done by the other kids if it was not good, or not correct. She even did that in college. She always got A’s for herself and everyone in the groups she was part of.

It was during her school years that she started to learn Critical Thinking—to be critical of what you are being told (do not always believe things at face value), and do some real research to make sure what you are being told is the actual truth.

In public school she was in Academic Challenge, in Mathletes, ran Cross Country, threw Shot Put, and was on the Bowling Team. She was also playing the Violin in the school Orchestra. Outside of school she taught herself how to play the Ukulele, Guitar and the Bass Guitar. In college she learned the Piano. She believes that learning music helps a person be smarter. Also in college she joined a Dungeons & Dragons club, and Writer's Bloc. She is happy, and proud, be called a Nerd—she never saw it as a derogatory term, but rather as a badge of honor.

Alana also took Spanish, American Sign Language, and Italian.

College

When she went to college, she got into the Kent State Honors College.

PHI BETA KAPPA – Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s most prestigious honor society, was founded in 1776 by students at the College of William & Mary who recognized the importance of a liberal education as the foundation of participation in a democratic society. Phi Beta Kappa recognizes students who have achieved excellence in all aspects of their education, and who have a strong background in the liberal arts and sciences, mathematics and a foreign language. Fewer than 1% of students across the nation are elected to Phi Beta Kappa annually. The Kent State University chapter was established in 1976, and each year the Phi Beta Kappa faculty members elect juniors and seniors who have met the high standards of excellence of the society.

Phi Beta Kappa is an honor society, not a fraternity or sorority.

In her junior year Alana was elected to join Phi Beta Kappa. You do not ask to join them—they will ask you to join them if you have been elected by one of your professors, and meet the high standards of excellence of the society.

In the summer between her junior and senior years of college she was in the Kent State Study Abroad program in Florence, Italy. This experience was a good one for her not only on an educational level, but also a personal level.

When on a field trip to Rome, the professor asked if anyone knew what all of the different types of columns on the buildings were that they could see. One of the girls spoke up and said that Alana knows it. The professor asked Alana if she knew, Alana said yes and went on to tell them what each type of column was. The professor seemed a bit surprised and told her that maybe she should be the one teaching everyone.

Alana has always been more mature than other people her age; she has said that she feels like she is the mother figure to some of her friends, teaching them things that their parents should have taught them.

In her senior year she started working at the Poetry Center, they chose her as one of their representatives for a conference in Seattle, Washington, and another conference in Washington D.C. She was also a camp counselor for the Poetry Center.

Part of Alana's duties at the Poetry Center involved Community Outreach, where she would go to public schools in the area to teach poetry, and encourage the kids to write poetry. That involved coordinating with the teachers, and created lesson plans that were engaging, inspirational, and motivating.

Even though her personal social media presence was minimal at the time, the Poetry Center put her in charge of their social media posts, which also involved her doing some graphic design.

During her time at the Poetry Center, Alana even had a few of her own poems published. I was only published once (in a computer industry magazine in December of 2000), Alana was published at least three times.

A couple of Alana's professors told their students that they never give out A's, yet Alana's work was always able to earn her A's even from them!

Cum Laude,
Magna Cum Laude,
and Summa Cum Laude

Cum Laude, Graduation With Honors. Honors are awarded to those students with an average of at least 3.500 to 3.699 on a 4.000 scale.

Magna Cum Laude, Graduation With High Honors. High honors are awarded to those students with an average of at least 3.700 to 3.899 on a 4.000 scale.

Summa Cum Laude, Graduation With Highest Honors, Highest honors are awarded to those students with an average of at least 3.900 on a 4.000 scale. An asterisk (*) next to a student's name in the Commencement Program indicates those students who have maintained a 4.000 grade point average.

The average covers all of the student’s grades through their entire time at college.

Alana graduated Summa Cum Laude with an asterisk (*) next to her name (on the page marked 15) in the Commencement Program (PDF) (which is page 22 of the PDF document), indicating that she had the highest possible grade point average of 4.000 over the four years that she went to Kent State University.

So, Alana went through her entire school career—Kindergarten through 12^th grade, and all four years of college—with straight A's!

Alana really put the in the work to earn those grades too, it was not unusual for her to be doing homework into the morning hours. Sometimes she would be fortunate to get a couple of hours of sleep before she had to go to school again.

Alana's work ethic is also like that outside of a school environment.

Both Andrea and myself are as proud of Alana as anyone could ever be of anything.

When I look at her now, I sometimes think of the words that she decorated the top of her graduation cap with:
“Oh what is that beautiful thing that just happened?”
(from At Blackwater Pond by Mary Oliver)

At Blackwater Pond

by Mary Oliver

At Blackwater Pond the tossed waters have settled
after a night of rain.
I dip my cupped hands. I drink
a long time. It tastes
like stone, leaves, fire. It falls cold
into my body, waking the bones. I hear them
deep inside me, whispering
oh what is that beautiful thing
that just happened?

Polite Conversation

2015-12-10T16:20:00.001-05:00

I'm not pretending to be perfect. I myself have committed some social missteps (especially in my younger years). My unconventional humor allowed my mouth to speak before my brain could shut it up (I apologize to anyone I may have offended). As time has marched forward my humor has mellowed to a more socially acceptable level.

With that being said...

I have heard that there are two topics of conversation that you should try to avoid around the dinner table: Religion, and Politics.

Maybe that should be the rule of thumb for Facebook posts, too!

I understand that there are highly volatile and polarizing topics that are being thrown in our faces everyday, but I think those seemingly overwhelming issues are blinding us to the little things that can be changed that could make life much more pleasant.

How many people do you think that you are going convert to your way of thinking by posting your far-right, far-left, or religious views on Facebook? I'll tell you how many: zero.

If you think that you are just letting others that think like you know that they are not alone, trust me, they already know it ... that's why there are entire cable channels devoted to different ways of thinking, because there are enough people watching them to support them.

As for your inspirational posts, or "copy and paste this into your status" posts, or your "can I have 1,000,000 likes on this" posts: Quit junking up my feed!

Now for all of those recipe posts ... never mind, some of those are actually okay. :-)

The only thing you are doing is getting people to remove your posts from the main 'Home' Facebook feed. Short of you engaging in some of the faux-pas above, the people who 'Friend' you may actually like you, don't ruin it.

The Lost Rings of Sanibel

2014-01-12T23:16:00.003-05:00

It was January 1st, 2014 and we were visiting my mother in Florida. We only had a few days left of our vacation and decided to go to the beach. It was me (George), my wife Andrea, our three kids (Alana, Owen and Remington), and my niece (Ariana).

We drove to Bonita Beach but there was no place to park, even after driving around for an hour. Apparently we weren’t the only people wanting to go to the beach that day.

So we decided to go to a beach on Sanibel Island because we didn’t think there’d be too many people that would want to not only pay $6.00 to cross the bridge but also $2.00 per hour to park.

So we drove almost an hour to get to Sanibel Island and the first beach we went to (Sanibel Lighthouse) was completely full, no place to park. We even almost saw a fight between two women over a parking spot. So our next big decision was to go Bowman’s Beach, it ended up being about another 40 minute drive (due to traffic) from where we were.

Bowman’s Beach

Arriving there was uneventful and we even found a parking spot, but it was still quite crowded.

It was almost a quarter mile walk to get to the beach from the parking lot, so we walked, carrying all of the beach stuff we brought with us. We went about 150 feet up the beach to find a spot, and we got set up.

Let The Fun Commence

We had all the normal fun at the beach for a couple of hours, yay.

Back To My Mom’s

After the more than an hour drive back to my mom’s we pulled into her driveway and Andrea said, “I don’t have my rings!” Instantly she was in tears, her wedding ring, engagement ring, and anniversary wrap were not on her hand! She took them off to apply sunscreen and forgot to put them back on.

There was no way that I wouldn't be going back to the beach to look for the rings, so I got the kids out of the car and we told my mom what happened. She also came back to the beach with us.

Back To The Beach

Off we drove to get back to the beach. Andrea called the police on Sanibel to let them know and they offered to have a police officer meet us there if we needed one, we decided to wait before we would have an officer meet us. On the way up there I stopped at Wal Mart, Big Lots , and Target looking for a metal detector … we didn’t find one but we did get a couple of flashlights.

Driving all the way back up to the beach I was losing hope, it was seeming more and more like a huge undertaking and daylight had long since left us, it was pitch black.

We made it back to the beach parking lot and got out, I think from the expression on my mother’s face showed that she didn’t think we would have any luck either. I got my wife’s bear pepper spray (in case we ran into any wild animals … we didn’t). We had to use the flashlights and the light from my phone for the rest of the time or we wouldn’t have even been able to see our hands in front of our faces.

The Beach

When we got back on the beach, it seemed even more hopeless. It was dark and there didn’t seem to be any reference points.

We started walking up the beach and I noticed a big hole that was dug into the beach close to the waterline, I remembered a couple of girls digging it when we were there earlier. From there we got an approximate direction to where we set up our spot on the beach, but every step closer just seemed to be more hopeless to me.

Litter

Then Andrea said, “We were sitting there! That’s a Jolly Rancher wrapper of mine!” By some miracle it was still in the exact spot we were set up, it didn’t get blown away or trampled by other beach goers.

Let The Digging Commence

So we had a starting point to begin digging.

We started digging in front of where Andrea’s seat was, Andrea and my mom were digging machines! As we started digging and shifting the sand around, we almost lost our starting point, so Andrea marked it with a stick she found on the beach.

About 15 minutes passed, and I thought we needed to dig a little smarter. I tried to picture what might have happened when Andrea got out of her seat and stood up on the beach, and where the ring might have gone.

And Then…

I moved a few feet on the other side of where Andrea was digging, and I started digging. About 15 seconds later I said, “Wait, stop, is this it?” (or something like that) I had uncovered the edge of the wedding ring about 6 inches down in the sand, I let Andrea take it out. She dusted it off and handed it to me for me to hold. Andrea began digging from the spot she took the ring from and 10 seconds later she had her engagement ring with the anniversary wrap in her hand! Once again the tears started flowing from Andrea, but this time for a different reason.

Andrea called the police on Sanibel Island to let them know we found it, the woman she was talking to said she worked there 35 years and women were always losing their rings on the beach, and this is the first time anyone had found their rings!

Lola's Dead?

2013-10-23T17:49:00.000-04:00

Lola is our newest dog and Remy (Remington) is only 2 years old.

Remy: Mommy. Mommy! Lola died.
Andrea: Lola died?
George: She's just sleeping.
Remy: :-)
Andrea: :-)

Alana's Worst Grade This Year!

2013-10-23T17:40:00.003-04:00

Yesterday my daughter Alana said her worst grade so far this year was in her math class.

What is that worst grade, you may be asking...

Her worst grade so far this year: 97%

And her classes are accelerated classes!

The Netfilx (non-)apology Email

2011-09-19T12:57:00.003-04:00

The Netfilx (non-)apology Email

I think the email that Reed Hasitngs (from Netflix) sent today may have the opposite reaction than what he is hoping for.

I, for one, got mad when I read it. Hastings is insulting our intelligence, it seems that making millions (billions?) off of us has made him lose touch with us.

So here is my personal reading-between-the-lines interpretation of Reed's email:

Dear George ('Dear [insert first name here]'),

I messed up (you caught me). I owe you an explanation (we are hemorrhaging so many customers and stock holders that I need to try to plug the leak).

It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming and the price changes (how the heck did you all see through our scheme to try to double our already sizable profits while not give you any more value for your dollar?!?). That was certainly not our intent (that you realize what we were doing), and I offer my sincere apology (I'm sorry that you weren't stupid enough to swallow our B.S.). Let me explain what we are doing (let me see if I can try to trick you a different way).

For the past five years, my greatest fear at Netflix has been that we wouldn't make the leap from success in DVDs to success in streaming (we dominated DVDs and streaming to the extent that we put most of our competition out of business, but I want you to feel sorry for us). Most companies that are great at something – like AOL dialup or Borders bookstores – do not become great at new things people want (streaming for us) (if I compare us to failed companies, maybe you'll feel sorry for us, even though there is no real comparison since we are dominating the area I am trying to make you think we are failing at). So we moved quickly into streaming, but I should have personally given you a full explanation of why we are splitting the services and thereby increasing prices (even though we have been streaming for years and still making huge profits, I want you to think it's a new venture on our part). It wouldn’t have changed the price increase (I still don't feel bad about putting the screws to you), but it would have been the right thing to do (maybe I could have staved off losing some of our victims, er... I mean 'customers').

So here is what we are doing and why (at least I hope you'll buy into this).

Many members love our DVD service, as I do, because nearly every movie ever made is published on DVD. DVD is a great option for those who want the huge and comprehensive selection of movies (we are great, worship us).

I also love our streaming service because it is integrated into my TV (oh, you don't have one of those TVs yet, too bad, they are quite nice), and I can watch anytime I want (BUHAHAHAH, oops, ignore the maniacal laugh). The benefits of our streaming service are really quite different from the benefits of DVD by mail (even though we have already been able to bundle the services and still make huge profits, I want to make you think it's a hardship for us). We need to focus on rapid improvement as streaming technology and the market evolves (we have already got all the technology in place, but I think we can double our profits), without maintaining compatibility with our DVD by mail service (I want you to think that it is a burden to do two things while still making amazing profits).

So we realized that streaming and DVD by mail are really becoming two different businesses, with very different cost structures, that need to be marketed differently, and we need to let each grow and operate independently (Hahahaha, I can't even say that with a straight face).

It’s hard to write this after over 10 years of mailing DVDs with pride, but we think it is necessary (how dare you make me pretend to grovel): In a few weeks, we will rename our DVD by mail service to “Qwikster”. We chose the name Qwikster because it refers to quick delivery. We will keep the name “Netflix” for streaming (maybe if we try to confuse you simpletons by making up a stupid name for the DVD service we can still get away with this).

Qwikster will be the same website and DVD service that everyone is used to. It is just a new name, and DVD members will go to qwikster.com to access their DVD queues and choose movies (even though we are trying to confuse you, we need to try to make it simple enough for you to still give us your money). One improvement we will make at launch is to add a video games upgrade option, similar to our upgrade option for Blu-ray, for those who want to rent Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 games (we got games now, is that enough to get you back?). Members have been asking for video games for many years, but now that DVD by mail has its own team, we are finally getting it done (maybe you dummies will believe we couldn't figure out that we can send DVDs and game disks unless we split DVDs and streaming apart). Other improvements will follow (Hahaha, yeah, right). A negative of the renaming and separation is that the Qwikster.com and Netflix.com websites will not be integrated (we could have integrated the sites, but we didn't want you to think it was easy to do two things on the same site, like we used to do).

There are no pricing changes (we’re done with that!) (the stockholders already want my head on a platter). If you subscribe to both services you will have two entries on your credit card statement, one for Qwikster and one for Netflix (haven't I gotten you to believe we can't do two things for one price yet?). The total will be the same as your current charges (even though it's more than twice as much as it was a few months ago, I want you to think it's not that much more). We will let you know in a few weeks when the Qwikster.com website is up and ready (those idiot coders haven't gotten the site working yet, I'll have them disemboweled when they are finished).

For me the Netflix red envelope has always been a source of joy (money, money, money). The new envelope is still that lovely red, but now it will have a Qwikster logo (you morons need to feel like it is the same, even though we want you to think it's completely different). I know that logo will grow on me over time, but still, it is hard. I imagine it will be similar for many of you (I imagine you are all like Rain Man having to watch Wapner at the same time every day, you idiots).

I want to acknowledge and thank you for sticking with us (thanks for still giving us some of your money, but I want more), and to apologize again to those members, both current and former, who felt we treated them thoughtlessly (I still don't know how did those idiots could figure out we were just being greedy).

Both the Qwikster and Netflix teams will work hard to regain your trust (Jedi Mind Trick: "believe our lies"). We know it will not be overnight (hurry up). Actions speak louder than words (just don't pay attention to our actions). But words help people to understand actions (maybe you will believe me if I say you are stupid unless you believe me).

Respectfully yours (yeah, right),

-Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO, Netflix (worship me by sending me your money)

p.s. I have a slightly longer explanation along with a video posted on our blog, where you can also post comments (if you still don't buy this lie, I want to try again on our blog).

The comments above (in red) are just my opinion of what I imagine was really going through Reed's mind as he was writing this email.

I dumped the DVD option on Netflix (I can get more DVD value for my money from Redbox now), as soon as I can find a streaming service that is at least comparable to Netflix then I will use it instead.

Classic Rock

2010-08-20T23:44:00.000-04:00

Today my daughter Alana (9) asked my son Owen (7) who his favorite band was, he said it was Deep Purple ... I guess Guitar Hero was a good investment! lol

It's My Rotten Life!

2010-04-14T23:46:00.000-04:00

The other day me, Andrea and the kids (Alana and Owen) were driving in the car.

It wasn't long before the conversation turned to the kids and Andrea being able to play with their Nintendo DS's together. They seemed to think I was missing out on something since I didn't have a DS of my own to play with them.

I said it wasn't a problem, "it's my lot in life."

Owen didn't clearly hear what I said, and he echoed what he though I said: "It's dad's rotten life!"

We were laughing for quite a while!

Fall 2009

2009-11-11T10:07:00.000-05:00

A couple of pictures of the kids in the fall of 2009.

Canfield County Fair 2009

2009-09-05T23:44:00.000-04:00

A few of the pics from the Canfield Fair, the kids had a great time and are already thinking about going again next year!

Alana & Owen's 1st Day of School

2009-08-26T19:58:00.000-04:00

Alana and Owen going down the street and getting on the bus in the morning for the first day of school.

Owen was nervous until he had orientation the day before, now he seems to like it!

Alana was, well, she always likes school. She even scored so high on on her tests last year that she was asked to join the gifted and talented program ( http://bit.ly/4FE4nA ).

Larry Lazarides Jr.

2009-08-22T01:54:00.006-04:00

Larry Lazarides Jr.

Larry Lazarides Jr.
Son of Laura & Larry Lazarides

Born:
December 11, 1977
Houston, Texas, USA

Died:
March 8, 1998
Canton, Ohio, USA

Larry was born when I (George Lazarides) was 11 years old, I was the first one of my family (besides my mother) to see him when they brought him out to a crib in a small room with a window for us to view him from the waiting area.

I think that my older brother (John), my sister (Linda, also older) and I were closer to him than we were to each other because we had a hand in raising him.

Larry died at the age of 20 on March 8, 1998, not even six months after our father died (September 10, 1997). He seemed to be healthy as a horse (as the saying goes).

Larry would accomplish anything he put his mind to. He was smart...and stubborn.

Larry was my Best Man at my wedding in 1993. Here is Larry showing me the time on his watch so I won't be late for my wedding.

Here he is leading a dance line at my reception in 1993.

Larry wasn't much of a dancer, but he loosened up as the night progressed! Here he is doing his version of The Twist, people cleared off of the dance floor to watch him and his flying feet!

He was also in our brother John's wedding in 1987. This is John in the white tux. our dad (Larry Lazarides Sr.) sitting, Larry (Jr.) is the youngest and that's me on the right (with a mustache!).

He loved life:
He would ski, hike, party, play Hackey Sack, skate board, Roller Blade, play guitar, SCUBA dive, drive his new Camaro convertible (he wanted the weather to get nice so he could drive with the top down), read (he read more than I have), and much more.

This is Larry in Lake Erie at Geneva-On-The-Lake (Ohio) in 1992, he got a bad sun burn on that trip.

Here are some pictures of Larry and friends at Cedar Point in 1993. The girl standing next to Larry in the next two pictures was killed in 2000, a horrible event that was in the news world wide, it still shakes our lives ... but that's another story.

Larry even started a personal Web site, it's no longer being hosted, I'll try to put a copy of it back up later.

He worked as an Anesthesia Assistant at Aultman Hospital in Canton, Ohio, he was very proud of his job.

He went to school in Canton, Ohio, and later in the Perry Township schools, he graduated from Perry High School in the class of 1996.

He attended Kent State University - Stark Campus. He was striving to become an Anesthesiologist.

He had his friends over quite often, they were a very close group. After Larry died I helped move his things out of his apartment, his friends did so much to help. I cried on the way home thinking how nice they were and Larry couldn't pay them back...I still cry.

He had just moved out of my mom's house, even though she didn't want him to, about two weeks before he died.

He had just gotten engaged to Nicole Ann Smith about a week before he died,
he was just starting out in life!

Larry called me on March 7, 1998, from his work. He just made some small talk, he wanted to know how things were going for me. I found out that he also called John's house (our older brother) and my Mom's house that day too. About three hours after I talked to him he was found face down in his bed.

Nicole found him and called 9-1-1 and started performing C.P.R. He was already blue. The paramedics took him to Aultman Hospital (where he worked), they worked on him a long time but he never woke up. He was in a coma all night and died the next morning, March 8, 1998.

At the time the doctors told us it was some kind of heart attack. On July 11, 1998, (more than four months later!) we finally got the official Death Certificate, Larry died of pneumonia.

I want my little brother back...

Owen's Nightmare

2009-06-08T20:22:00.000-04:00

The other night Owen came into our room crying his eyes out, just sobbing. We could tell that he had a nightmare that woke him up.

Andrea asked him what was wrong, what the dream was about.

Owen, between sobs, said he didn't want to talk about it. So we knew it had to be a horrible nightmare.

Andrea calmed him down and told him, "Tell mommy about it, it'll make you feel better."

Still trying to hold back sobs he said, "There was an Ice Cream Truck ... Alana got Ice Cream ... and I didn't."

If that's the worst nightmare he can have, he must be living a pretty good life! :-)

Owen's next milestone...

2009-06-01T20:35:00.000-04:00

I'll keep it short and sweet:
Owen just learned how to ride a 2 wheel bike today, YAY!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

2009-01-22T18:39:00.000-05:00

The other day Owen asked me why some dogs are mean.

I told him that some dogs are mean because people are mean to them or because they have been trained to be mean, like Police Dogs.

He thought for a moment and asked, "How do [the Police Dogs] put the handcuffs on [the bad guys]?"

:-)

How to Climb in a Cave

2008-12-28T14:59:00.000-05:00

Owen shows Alana the proper technique for climbing in a cave.

Alana - Off To School

2008-08-26T10:40:00.000-04:00

Who do you think is happier when the kids go back to school?

The parents

The kids

Both equally

Today is Alana's first day of 2nd Grade!

She was ready to go back, but even she seems nervous about the fact that every one of the 2nd Graders in the neighborhood is in her class. That's four kids who have had more than enough of each other, in the same class room! Nothing good will come of this! (I feel sorry for the teacher)

There were two other 2nd Grade classes in her school, they could have split the kids up a little bit better!

Oh, well, we will see how the first day turns out.

Where Was I

2008-08-25T16:02:00.005-04:00

Here's a map of the states that I have been to, and would like to go to.

visited 31 states (61%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

I'll try to remember to update it if it changes.

Updated May 6, 2024.

2008-08-22T13:57:00.003-04:00

Recently I have been trying to pinch some pennies here and there, as I am sure most of you are also doing.

One thing that did not survive is my Web Site (http://lazarides.us - which was mostly just a hobby to me and I think I've learned about all I can from it). I had been considering getting rid of it before because there are free services that allow me to do similar things that I set up my Web Site to do.

So for now I will be using some of the free services that I have access to:
Blog, Multiply, Flickr, del.icio.us.

I may even add some other services to the list as time goes on.

I'm not sure if I will keep the 'lazarides.us' domain name much longer, I'll burn that bridge when I come to it. :-)

In the near future I'll be transferring some of the content that I had on my old site to this blog.

She finally did it...

2008-06-21T23:09:00.000-04:00

Alana finally did it, yesterday (June 20th, 2008) she rode her bike with her training wheels off

Pancakes

2008-03-18T12:30:00.000-04:00

Description:
Make great pancakes from scratch!

Ingredients:
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 beaten egg
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon cooking oil
½ teaspoon salt

Directions:
Stir together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Combine egg, milk, and oil; add all at once to flour mixture, stirring till blended but still slightly lumpy. Pour about ¼ cup batter onto a hot, lightly greased griddle or heavy skillet. Cook till golden brown, turning to cook other side when pancakes have a bubbly surface and slightly dry edges.

My Li'l Girl is Getting Bigger

2007-05-08T23:42:00.000-04:00

I have not been putting anything in here recently because (as most of you know) we have been remodeling our bathroom the last couple of months.

But I just thought I'd say how Alana is reading! It is the coolest thing, I used to read to her every night before she went to bed, but now we take turns reading!

It really made an impression on me a couple of months ago when I gave her "Green Eggs and Ham" to read to me ... and she did it! Now you have to realize that "Green Eggs and Ham" is the book that I read to both of the kids while they were still in they're mommy's tummy, and quite a bit after they were out, too. So I was somewhat emotional when Alana read it to me.

And now Alana's kindergarten teacher seems quite impressed with Alana's reading skills and says she is reading above her grade level. Of course we are quite proud of our little girl.

The Winter Strikes Back ... With a Vengeance!

2007-02-13T20:23:00.000-05:00

Snow
Well, I think that winter is REALLY here now, right now we have about 8 to 10 inches of snow on the ground, and more is coming down!

Lots of places have been closing early today. When I was done at work it was a messy, slippery drive home.

I shoveled some snow when I got home from work, there was about 6 inches of snow on the ground at the time. About an hour later you couldn't even tell I shoveled anything!

The good thing about the snow is that when it snows, the temperature is usually a little warmer than it was. The wind chills today were actually above zero! Woo Hoo! (Yes, there is a hint of sarcasm here)

Snow Days
Alana had a snow day today, but I heard that Oscar had to go to school today. That is a little unusual in that we are about 40 miles south of Oscar ... they usually get the most snow, but the snow is coming from the south in this storm.

Alana usually doesn't want to miss school, but she is OK with it if she knows that she won't miss anything.

Alana is off again tomorrow ... so is Oscar this time!

Cold Weather

2007-02-05T14:50:00.000-05:00

What is the warmest temperature that you would feel the need to wear a heavy coat?

60's

50's

40's

30's

20's

10's

0's - yeah right :-)

The weather up here in Ohio has actually been down right cold!, it got a few degrees below zero last night. I feel that anything below the 20's is cold, and below zero ... well that's just too cold! Last nights wind chills were in the -20's (maybe even colder, but I didn't see it) ... yes, that's in the negative twenties!

I guess that is the price we have to pay for the mild temperatures the past several months when we rarely had to turn on the heat or air conditioning.

Florida: Cancellation Worked Out!

2007-01-05T20:43:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago we were planing on going to Florida for a week ... we were supposed to leave tonight, but we couldn't pull everything off for it too happen (now we have to keep in mind our daughter's time off from school, and my work schedule is very tight any more).

But it is not a bad thing, because I am sick as a dog and I don't think I could have made the trip (we drive everywhere on vacations).

blog.LAZARIDES.us

Alana Graduated from College!

Alana Graduated from College!

Early Alana

Gifted and Talented

Smile

by Alana Lazarides (age 7)

College

Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude, and Summa Cum Laude

At Blackwater Pond

by Mary Oliver

Polite Conversation

The Lost Rings of Sanibel

Lola's Dead?

Alana's Worst Grade This Year!

The Netfilx (non-)apology Email

Classic Rock

It's My Rotten Life!

Fall 2009

Canfield County Fair 2009

Alana & Owen's 1st Day of School

Larry Lazarides Jr.

Larry Lazarides Jr.

Owen's Nightmare

Owen's next milestone...

Kids Say the Darndest Things

How to Climb in a Cave

Alana - Off To School

Where Was I

She finally did it...

Pancakes

My Li'l Girl is Getting Bigger

The Winter Strikes Back ... With a Vengeance!

Cold Weather

Florida: Cancellation Worked Out!

Cum Laude,
Magna Cum Laude,
and Summa Cum Laude