As we were getting my son ready for bed a couple of nights ago, he excitedly told me ”Daddy, I found a penny today! I put it on your placemat at the table. It’s for Father’s Day… you can buy yourself something with it.” In my haste, I thanked him and said that was very nice, and that I appreciated it. To myself, I was quietly wondering what I would do with another penny.

I didn’t give it much more thought until later, when I found the penny exactly where he said he had placed it. It was a nice bright cent, its copper flashing in ways that attract the eyes of little children. An untold number of grown-ups had probably walked over and around the penny that day without picking it up, it’s value to them not worth the effort of stooping to retrieve it. But for my son, a penny is worth more than it’s face value. It’s a ride on the electric horse at the grocery. Or it’s a little extra rattle in his piggy bank. I often give the kids pennies from my pocket change, and it makes their faces glow with anticipation and the thoughts of the treasures for which they are saving. My wife and I have tried to teach our kids the value of saving, giving, and spending, and the kids have taken it to heart. I imagine his mind raced with possibilities when he found it. Eventually, he decided to give it to me.

As I stood there looking at the penny in my hand, the magnitude of his gesture struck me. My eyes watered. I realized that while he would probably give me something that may have more value to me on Father’s Day, at the moment he had given me something that was of value to him. He had given, freely. He had been thoughtful, openly. And perhaps that simple gesture was the most valuable thing of all. The penny may never amount to much, but I feel certain my son will. It was the perfect Father’s Day gift. =)

Since last summer, I’ve had a problem with my feet. Particularly, they get super-tender at the base of my big toe and it makes it somewhat painful to walk. Currently, it’s my left foot giving me fits. The problem comes around when I’ve done a little too much running, but more so when I’ve worn my flip-flops or “slides”. In fact, I’ve almost sworn off flip-flops altogether for this reason. I still wear the slides when I’m goofing off around the house, but I usually pay for it. In fact, there is an article in Newsweek right now about this very issue and how bad ‘flops can be for your feet. I know I’m paying for it, so read up and make sure it’s worth it! As for me, I’ve switched to some KEEN Arroyo’s, and absolutely love them!

As for the scooter thing… I stumbled across the 2008 Piaggio MP3 500 today. Man, I want one of these!! First, it has two wheels in the front instead of one, and each has independent suspension. So they aren’t ‘tippy’ like a three wheeler or motorcycle, and you don’t have to put your feet down at stops. Second, though the 500cc motor pushes up to 95mph, they are still a scooter. That means it has an automatic transmission and a quieter ride. And finally, they get 60 miles per gallon! That would get me to work and back for a week on one gallon of gas! And finally, the three wheels kind of removes the “dork factor” of riding a scooter, since there is something kind of sporty about these. I’ve seen something similar here locally, and it definitely grabs your attention. Unfortunately, at nearly $9,000, I doubt you’ll see one parked in my driveway any time soon.

If you are/were a fan of Seinfeld, either the show or just the comedian, you are likely familiar with his “what’s the deal?” bits. Usually he takes something fairly ordinary to which we don’t usually give much thought, and extrapolates it into something that truly does seem bizarre.

So taking a page from Jerry, let me ask: What’s the deal with the media “combining” and shortening the names of every person our couple that ventures to become famous?!

You probably know what I’m talking about… let’s see… we have “Brangelina” (Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie), “Bennifer” (Ben Affleck & Jennifers Garner or Lopez), ”LiLo” (Lindsey Lohan), “K-Fed” (Kevin Federline)… the list could go on. Who makes this stuff up? And how does the media come to agreement on which ones to use? Do they have arguments like “No, I think we should call them ‘Bradalina’ or ‘Jennifleck’”? And what would they do if someone like Jack Black hooked up with Maria Sharapova? Would we have ‘Jackapova’, or ‘Jackaria’? And if a name doesn’t work (would have Brad Pitt & Jennifer Anniston = ‘Bradifer’? JenniPitt?), does that mean the relationship will fail?

The media and celeb-watchers may think it’s fun (Entertainment Tonight REALLY gets into this), but personally I find the practice fairly annoying. Can’t we just call them by their actual names? I heard news about “LiLo” for quite a while before I realized it was Lohan. And by nicknaming Kevin Federline, aren’t we just encouraging him?

As Frank said on Seinfeld… “Serenity Now!” (someone has managed to turn that into a REAL supplement for mood swings!)