5

5

I thought it was about time I did a blog about my sisters.  I am lucky enough to have 5 of them!  I will take you through them from oldest to youngest.  But along with my parents and Anissa, they are my rocks.  You will see I have different relationships with each of them.  But they are my best friends and life would be so boring and meaningless without them.

Carolyn is the oldest and she’s about 4 years older than me.  Carolyn had the unfortunate responsibility of figuring everything out for the first time whereas I always had my 3 older siblings to test the waters before I dove into anything.  I’ve always been in awe of Carolyn’s artistic abilities.  By that I mean her musical talent (which impresses me more every time I get to hear her sing), her creative process, and her uncanny ability to give the most thoughtful, beautiful gifts (she makes me look like a chump at Christmas).  I also really admire her persistence.  She’s always exploring, always trying to get better at what she does, and I’m pretty sure she never sleeps.  She juggles so many things like balancing her relationships with others, fostering a thriving career, finding personal growth in her hobbies, and giving back to the community.  Whenever I feel overwhelmed I think about what Carolyn is able to accomplish and in doing so I find the strength I need to forge ahead.

Aileen is the next oldest at 3 years older than me.  Aileen and I were pals from a very young age.  We had secret clubs and at the tender age of 6 she taught me how to find opportunities to profit in the marketplace.  Aileen, like Carolyn, has great drive.  When you dig deeper you also find a great amount of passion that fuels everything she does.  When Aileen is on your side, you cannot be stopped (and if she’s not, then watch out!).  One memory I have with Aileen that I will never forget is when I was in Scottsdale, AZ with her.  She was out there for an extended period of time on a personal trip and I went out for a long weekend to keep her company.  We wined and dined ourselves and just relaxed.  It was a great time for us to just have nice, long conversations.  In our adult lives Aileen and I have come to have more and more deep conversations covering topics like why are we here, what am I doing with my life, or how do I make sense of what is going on around me.  She’s a great sounding board and I can always count on her to give me the time of day.

Maureen is the next oldest and closest in age to me.  She is 1.5 years older, but she was always 2 grade level s above me (over-achiever!).  In our younger years, Maureen and I fought a lot.  Given our proximity in age we had a lot of similar friends and that always created tension.  But after high school I went to Miami University where Maureen also went.  Although she was abroad for 3 of the months, we did have 2 years together at Miami.  Let me tell you, that was a blast.  Maureen just took me under her wing.  As I mentioned above, it was always great to have siblings ahead of me to figure it all out so I could get it right.  This was definitely true at Miami, and even after graduation (we are both CPAs).  I actually lived with Maureen for a while after I graduated and this just brought us closer.  Given our educations and professional similarities Maureen and I have a lot to chat about.  Sometimes I feel bad when others are around us because we just go spinning on our own tangents!  Maureen is great at giving advice and her heart is always in the right place.

I am the fourth child in the family.  The next sibling is Amy who is 3.5 years younger than me.  Growing up there was always separation between “the four big kids” and the 2 younger siblings including Amy.  Amy and I were rarely in the same school at the same time and therefore had very few similar friends.  Amy is also incredibly talented musically (I lost count of how many instruments she played in high school, but she excelled at them all).  She teaches special education now and I just think it’s the perfect fit for her.  Amy has always been someone who thinks with her heart first.  While that can be dangerous at times, it’s a really admirable quality that I think we can all learn from.  Sometimes in the moment I criticize her for what she says or does, and then reflect on it later realizing I actually agree with her.  I am very excited to see what Amy will do in this world because her heart is so big.

The “baby” of the family is Laura who is 5 years younger than me.  It’s hilarious that she is the baby because she might actually be the most mature person in our family (maybe it’s the outcome of learning from the mistakes of 5 other siblings!).  In her youth we always teased her for being lazy and a complainer.  Sometimes we thought she was complacent and unorganized.  Then she went to school at Loyola in Chicago and she really seemed to pull herself together quickly while there.  She’s now started her career teaching just outside Chicago and she loves what she does.  Every time I talk to Laura I am impressed with her poise and pragmatism.  I often forget she’s not my age or older.  Whatever guy she ends up with will certainly be one lucky dude!

These descriptions really cannot do justice to who these ladies are, but it gives you some insight.  Of course I left out some rough moments but everything that has happened brought us to today, and that is a good thing.  I love when people ask if I have any siblings because I just can’t wait to tell people about my 5 sisters.  As the end of the year approaches and I reflect on my life I realize that I just might be the luckiest guy in the world.  People always have a reaction when I tell them I have 5 sisters and I often joke that they can have a couple if they don’t have any sisters.  But the truth is, I wouldn’t trade any of them for anything in this world.

 

Okay, enough gushing, Kent out.

1992 at Disney World

Left to Right:  Amy, Me, Carolyn, Laura, Aileen, Maureen

 

2011 at my cousin's wedding in Boston

Left to Right:  Me, Carolyn, Laura, Aileen, Maureen, Amy

 

 

100,000

100,000

Well it’s been quite some time, hasn’t it?  Three weeks since my last entry.  Shame on me.  Back in high school my track coach explained to us the difference between reasons and excuses.  In my case, I think I have some legitimate reasons for my tardiness on this latest entry.  I wrapped up Fall semester at Ohio State with some exams and final group work.  I got in a car accident (everyone was fine, and it was not my fault) and have been dealing with the insurance company on and off the last few weeks (still don’t have my car fixed).  Also, wedding planning has kicked into high gear.  We made some big strides the past few weeks and hopefully we are on to less time-sensitive and more enjoyable planning like the honeymoon, favors for our guests, and music for the reception.  Okay, so enough “reasons” – on to the latest number in my blogging journey.

A week or two ago I hit the 100,000 mile mark on my Honda Accord. 

 

There it is - big moment!

 

I got the car just over 6 years ago which means I’ve put almost 17,000 miles/year on my car.  Ouch.  If I drove 20 miles to work one way each work day for the last six years, that only accounts for 60,000 of my 100,000 miles.  So where did I rack up the other 40,000!?  And then my mind began to race and think back to all the long stretches of highway I’ve driven.  So I thought I’d take you along for this ride and fill you in on some of those “extra” 40,000 miles the last 6 years.

To start, I purchased my car back in September 2007.  My car at the time had failed me and the repair would have cost me more than the fair value of the entire vehicle (riddle me that).  So I traded it in and bought a Honda Accord knowing I needed something very practical and durable.  In hindsight, that was a great decision.  Well done 22-year-old Jeff.  My first two years with the car were in Columbus.  I can’t recall any major trips, but I definitely racked up some miles living far from work.  Also, I was an auditor and often traveled outside the metro area to various client sites.  Overall, though, I can’t really blame those 2 years for putting on all those miles.

In the Fall of 2009 I was offered a job transfer with my employer to our Charlotte office.  It turns out that office had won a bunch of new (and big) clients, requiring additional staff for the long run.  I didn’t have anything keeping me in Columbus at the time.  No lease (thanks to my sister Maureen!), and no girlfriend.  So, off to Charlotte I went. 

I loved my apartment - right in the thick of it!

 

The first few months were kind of crazy.  I had already planned a lot in Columbus for that Fall so I spent many weekends driving back to Columbus.  For the record, it’s about 425 miles from Columbus to Charlotte, or a 6.5 hour drive.  In my opinion, it’s just long enough to make a weekend trip doable.  Any further and I’d say fly.  One major trip I remember being excited to make back to Columbus was for Christmas.  My job was awesome because even as an entry-level staff I was given 5 weeks of paid vacation.  Yeah, 5!  I always saved 2 of those for Christmas/New Year’s.  After a rough start in Charlotte I was desperate to go home to some familiar faces and just relax.  Enter the weather.  A brutal winter storm literally paralyzed I-77 through West Virginia.  As in, it was not passable no matter how awesome you think your 4-wheel drive is.  Determined to get to Columbus I drove to Columbus through Atlanta, Knoxville, Lexington and Cincinnati.  What is normally a 6.5 hour trip took almost 12 hours (the weather in Tennessee and Kentucky was rough as well).  After the holidays passed and I was starting to set some roots in Charlotte, I was assigned to a major client in the Jacksonville, FL office.  I was pretty upset that I was forced to work there for 4 months after being asked recruited to work in Charlotte.  The Charlotte airport is pretty big and often my flights were delayed so I actually drove to Jacksonville many of those weeks (I also liked having my own car there).  That trip was about 375 miles each way, or 5.5 hours.  And it was dull and boring.  This is where I learned to like stand-up comedy.  I gained some favor with the audit teams in Jacksonville and therefore they retained me for a special engagement for one of their clients.  However, this required me to work in Pittsburgh for a month (go figure – why did I leave Columbus?!).  Again, flight complications and the desire to hit up Columbus “on the way” led me to drive to and from Pittsburgh.  More miles.  Many more miles.  All the while, working out of town forced me to miss some crucial training in my Charlotte office.  When I finally got back to Charlotte in the middle of Summer 2010, I had to drive to and from Raleigh, NC to make up those missed trainings.  Great, more time in the car.  By the time August 2010 hit, I knew I needed to find a new job.  So I did, and also decided to move back to Columbus.  At the time, there was also this girl I really liked and she lived in Cincinnati.  Charlotte to Cincinnati was not working for us very well so the 100 miles between Columbus and Cincinnati seemed really attractive.  (As it turns out, this girl’s name was Anissa and I am marrying her in July next year!). 

Okay, so clearly 2009/2010 was a big mileage period for my trusty Accord.  Also in 2010, my parents moved from Columbus to Syracuse, NY (almost 500 miles apart).  With holidays and other visits, my car continued to pile on the mileage the next few years.  But as you might remember from my first blog, I love snow.  So my parents being in Syracuse wasn’t all bad.

Four feet of snow made for some great sledding!

 

Also, Syracuse is situated near some awesome things.  I drove my car to the eastern part of NY to go zip-lining on North America’s tallest, fastest zip-line up in the Catskills.  I also drove my car across the border to do Niagara Falls with Anissa.  We got to see Cooperstown, something I have always wanted to do!  Additionally, we toured the Finger Lakes and enjoyed some of the best wines I’ve ever had.  In the end, all those Syracuse miles were totally worth it!

The base of one of the mountains we zip-lined to/from.

 

 

Looking back on what those 100,000 miles mean to me, I am a happy guy.  They mean I’ve had good, steady work my entire young career.  They mean I am committed to being where I need to be, whether that’s going home for the holidays, making my way up and down I-71 to see a special lady, or just taking some time to step away from my day-to-day routine and enjoy some of what life has to offer.  I’m looking forward to what my next 100,000 miles have in store.  And Lord knows my Honda Accord is ready for them!

27

It’s time for a confession.  Don’t get too excited.  Unless you like snow.  Because I have a problem.  You may think you love snow, but I promise you my love of snow is unparalleled more times than not.  My love of weather, in general, goes back to when I was either 3 or 4 years old.  I got a weather kit as a gift for a birthday or holiday.  I measured rainfall, snowfall, the barometric pressure, etc.  My love of weather has never left me.  In fact, for a long time I thought I might be a meteorologist.  It turns out it’s just a passionate hobby.  Growing up in Cleveland I was a pig in mud in the winter.  With average annual snowfall of around 70 inches, I could count on plenty of snow cover to keep me happy all 3 months of winter (ok, let’s be serious:  all 7 months).  When my family moved to Dallas I lamented the weather.  I didn’t mind the heat that Dallas offered (I’m talking, “it’s too hot to play outside today” kind of heat) and I was fascinate by tornado season, but I missed winter.  One Thanksgiving we were blessed with 6 inches of slushy snow.  Guess what family became very popular due to their extensive sled collection they brought with them from Cleveland!?  Unfortunately it melted by noon that day.  As I mentioned in an earlier post I’ve lived in Columbus for most of my life.  And guess what?  Columbus only gets a paltry 27 inches of snow per year.  A vast improvement from Dallas but nothing near Cleveland.  Then a few years ago my parents moved to Syracuse (they are now back in Dallas) and Syracuse averages 125 inches of snow per year.  We visited one Christmas (or was it Thanksgiving?) and they had 4 FEET of snow on the ground.  And it wasn’t more than that because they had significant melt ahead of our visit.  The original storm had brought something like 90 inches of snow over a 2 week time frame.  THIS IS WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!  My parents could not open the back door.  When we got in for the holiday my siblings and I (well into our 20s at this point) wasted no time and went sledding almost every day. 

So while I live in Columbus now and we only get 27 inches per year, we are off to a strong start this year.  I think it has snowed 3 or 4 times already, with one “major” event (in Columbus “major” is loosely defined as >1-2 inches).  I have enjoyed every minute of it and look forward to some more over the next several months.  I’m hoping for the chance to get away and ski a bit this year (and to teach Anissa how to ski!). 

The first snow of the year (this may have been in October but I'm not totally certain of that)

The first snow that stuck to the ground this year.   I wish I had time to make a snowman.

 

I can’t really explain my fascination with weather, particularly snow.  But I just love being in it.  Driving scares me a bit, but it’s a fair price if you ask me!  I wish Columbus got more than 27 inches per year!  I don’t mind shoveling.  I love to build forts.  I love to ski. 

So there you have it.  My name is Jeff Kent.  I am 28 years old.  I am a snow-aholic.