The mantel has been passed from my aging parents to a rotating sibling host, but the traditional family Christmas is something every one of us in my large family treasure.

Busy nuclear family lives and a greater distance means that family Christmas actually will happen New Year’s Day this year, but the sentiments expressed are the traditions every family should hold sacred and keep as long as possible.

Grandchildren used to be dressed in their Sunday best, but over time that evolved into casual clothes following an annual picture-taking extravaganza. A formal meal prepared by the host and a potluck of snacks, sandwiches, and desserts leaves us all feeling way too sleepy to drive back to our own households. But the day is definitely about the eight little ones—my children, nieces, and nephews who are growing up way too fast.

The youngest just started kindergarten. The oldest will graduate high school in the spring.

We each as individuals say it every year: as the kids grow older and their needs change from toys to clothes and gadgets, it’s time to cut back on the giving and preserve the family budget. But those are empty words. It never changes. We’re all caught up in hours of paper tearing, shredding, and unwrapping—as each child receives enough presents to feel like the luckiest kid in the world.

But the biggest tradition is togetherness. I am one of seven siblings and my Dad is now past the age of 80. We all received a scare Thanksgiving weekend a few years ago when he needed quadruple-bypass surgery. My mom’s medication has evened out her dementia to the point where large gatherings no longer bother her.

We all know we have a limited time left with Nana and Pop-Pop, so we’re going to treasure every holiday we can from here.

Here’s hoping you get to enjoy the company of close friends and family this holiday season. Enjoy Merry Christmas and a safe, Happy New Year.

Ten years ago, Toledo families were enamored with a popular public art project that placed frog sculptures all over the downtown area. More than 100 frog sculptures were created and commissioned to be painted by local and regional artists.

“It’s Reigning Frogs.” brought thousands of people downtown, many snapping photos next to their favorite frog friends. The amphibian artwork later was auctioned off and raised more than $150,000 for local charities.

The popularity of the public art spread to other cities. I can recall Cincinnati doing a similar project with pigs.

True to their creative nature, those artists came up with colorful characters out of those frogs—many with a regional flavor. Some were transformed into a judge, a police officer, a college graduate, a queen, a TARTA bus driver, and even a Toledo Mud Hen, er, frog.

Former president George Bush and ex-Mexico president Vicente Fox even autographed one frog while the pair visited Toledo several years ago. But there’s a legend behind an Ebay auction for that particular frog. Organizers accidentally set the auction to expire at noon that day, instead of midnight. Someone won the autographed amphibian on the cheap, when it was expected to draw a lot more attention later in the day.

Many of those world-famous frogs are still hopping around somewhere. I did a little research and caught up with a few web-footed friends for a My Town segment set to air Monday night at 10 p.m. I hope you enjoy the “where are they now?” segment as much as I had fun putting it together.

This year my gift list is not too long. More than half of it is done, thanks to a useful group purchas for the parents. Shhh, no hints in case you’re reading this, Mom.

But now I’m down to the difficult ones. The obvious gifts are easy. Especially when they, or their parents, provide ideas.

Then there are the tough-to-buy-for. You hate to just buy something because you’re expected to, because everyone’s watching their budget these days. You can’t show up empty handed either. Plus, you want whatever it is to be appreciated.

You’re probably thinking, why not gift cards? Sure, they can be convenient in certain situations, and I admit, I’m usually very appreciative when I am a recipient, but part of me thinks, “Why not just exchange cash with each other?”

I can’t even get them chocolate, because someone else is planning to. I’ll keep working on it, but I know time’s a wasting!

Rocket nation, get over it. Tim Beckman had to take the Illinois job. Had to. Well, in reality, he didn’t.

But if he didn’t take it, I’d have to question his sanity.

Let’s all take a step back and analyze the situation.

SALARY at Toledo: $400,000
SALARY at Illinois: almost $2 million a year.

That’s more than a 400% raise. Most people are lucky if they get a 3% raise.

Then you wonder about the chance of advancement because that’s what any ordinary human being looks at in determining whether or not to take a job. Beckman may not have accomplished all his goals at Toledo, but one can certainly argue he had the Rockets trending on the path towards a MAC title. It’s certainly no debate he leaves the program in better shape now than what it was before he started three years ago, when Toledo won three games.

Many Toledo fans may base their anti-Illinois sentiments on how the future is so bright in the Glass City, how Beckman could maybe get a better job if he waited a bit longer. That’s a big maybe. Maybe these Toledo fans are right. But maybe they’re not.

Illinois is not the type of job to pass up for the sake of a maybe/maybe not better job down the road.

Illinois is right in the middle of prime recruiting territory – territory that Beckman is familiar with in his Toledo, BGSU, and Ohio State experiences. The Illini have proven to bring in big-time talent that has made it to the next level. The depth at an Illinois is just that much better than the typical MAC school.

Fact. O. Life.

Not every Big Ten school would be worth the jump though. Indiana? No way. Beckman could do better. Minnesota? A little better, but no thanks.

But Illinois? Proven talent that’s just waiting for the potential to be turned into results? It’s a pretty good scenario for a hot coach to walk in and look like the hero.

If Beckman gets Illinois to surprise a few teams in a few years and builds them into a top-20 program, I would deem that a success. College football would deem that a success.

The potential after that for Beckman would be through the roof.

Not that he’s concerned with that right now, but still, it’s worth saying for the sake of argument. From a career perspective, it’s not quite realistic to envision somebody making a jump from Toledo to a top-10 program. It’s less realistic to have envisioned Beckman staying here forever.

Feelings are hurt. I get that. I understand loyalty. I also understand looking at it from Beckman’s perspective.

BCS conference? Almost two million bucks a year while living near Chicago? I’ll take that supposed dead-end job any day of the week.

Rocket nation, if you look deep inside yourselves, you would probably do so too.

I just read where Albert Pujols just signed a mega-lucrative contract that shocked the baseball world: 10 years, $250 million.

All that cash to play a game. And the Occupy movement is torqued off about the salaries of business executives?!?

The Miami Marlins and Los Angeles Angels apparently got into a bidding war for the services of Pujols, a free-agent first baseman. The contract is the second-largest in major-league baseball history, just behind behind Alex Rodriguez’s 10-year, $275 million deal.

That contract raised eyebrows, too, and led to nearly a decade of somewhat-more-normal economic considerations in professional sports. Until now.

I’m a big sports fan, but no one player deserves that much cash. In fact, it reduces the competitiveness of smaller-market teams such as my beloved Cleveland Indians. There’s no way the Tribe could even consider a contract that size.

In fact, one year’s salary for Pujols is equal to the paychecks of half the Indians entire roster last season. The team’s entire 2010 payroll was about $49 million.

The Indians as a team shocked baseball last year with the best record in the major leagues, that is, until injuries and misfortune wrecked one of those magical seasons that fans live to see.

For that kind of cash, Pujols better be projected to hit 100 home runs, 500 runs batted in, and steal 150 bases. Of course, those are ridiculous figures. But so is his contract.

Maybe the Occupy folks should be camping out at home plate at a big-city baseball stadium.

I don’t own an MP3 player. I don’t really enjoy listening to music with things stuck in my ears, so I resisted getting some. But this past weekend I took the plunge. Mean looking little black earbuds with pictures of skulls on them. Occasionally I just need a little peace and solitude at work.

If you’ve ever been in a TV newsroom, you probably know there are scanners, multiple TV sets on, people talking to each other, people talking on the phone, phones ringing and the sound of people editing videotape.

Much of the time we have to keep our ear on the scanners or be ready to share information with each other. But occasionally in an open room of many desks, it’s nice to have a little quiet. That’s why the earbuds. Sometimes it’s just nice to hear a little music without bugging others, or hear nothing and just be able to think enough to write stories for the newscasts.

Another thing that kept me from getting them for a long time, the health stories we do about hearing loss. So I’ll make sure I’m very careful to keep the volume down.

Wave your arms if you want to get my attention.

A long illness took my youngest brother’s life last weekend. I’m still getting used to the sting of his being gone.

Dear Joe,

We hope you liked your sendoff gathering this week. We were all so sad, but thankful you’re no longer hurting. Cousin Katie and her husband Josh did a wonderful job with your photo slideshow. So many people came to say goodbye. Many sent plants and flowers. Mom told me tonight that the cards are still pouring in. Dad really misses you, too.

Holidays won’t be the same without you. Sure, you could be moody and grouchy, but you could also be really smart and funny and loving. Your absence is leaving a gaping hole in our lives.

My friends have been great at supporting me and trying to cheer me up. Today one of them said that I should think of how you now have the advantage of seeing and knowing the things that those of us still living remain clueless about. Among those, why you had to have such a short life. 32 years really isn’t very long.

Thank you for at least spending that time with us. Send our regards to the others we loved who’ve already passed. We hope someday to understand.

Love,

Your Sister

Imagine being imprisoned for a few months for telling a lie. We’ve all told lies, but we haven’t all been imprisoned.

Wei Zheng’s case is different.

In a past blog about Wei, who is the owner/executive chef of Wei Wei Noodles, I laid out the facts. Basically, Immigration was trying to deport him from America (where his family legally resides) to China (where he has no family). Wei’s past involves a time long ago where he tried to qualify for his residency status through a loophole that didn’t quite apply to him. He’s admitted this mistake. In essence, that mistake continued to haunt him even after over 20 years with a crime-free record (not even a traffic ticket!).

http://www.foxtoledo.com/dpp/news/local/My-kids-need-their-Daddy-back

So Immigration put him in jail, shut down his Chinese Restaurant (his family’s source of income), and tried to get his travel documents together so that they could ship him away and, if he wanted to appeal, he would have to do so from China and not be able to return to the US for ten years. His family was left to fend for themselves with the family business closed. As in, Wei’s wife had three kids to raise by herself. She was also taking care of Wei’s mom, who is battling stomach cancer. Not too easy, if you ask me. By the way, Wei’s wife and kids are US citizens. Wei’s mom has a green card.

Well, lo and behold, Wei was released from prison just a few weeks ago. His deportation case is still up in the air, but at the very least, he can re-open his family business and can provide for his family once again.

http://www.foxtoledo.com/dpp/news/local/wei-zheng-out-of-federal-custody

I was fortunate to have a celebratory meal with Wei and his family. This happened shortly before Thanksgiving. Can you imagine being in prison for a few months, especially considering his “crime” of lying in the very distant past? I’m going to be honest here, I may do a horrible job at lying because I don’t do it much, but I HAVE told a lie before. I’m sure other people can say the same. So imagine getting imprisoned for a lie told about 20 years ago even though your record is otherwise clean. Imagine that you’re wondering as you sit in prison what the heck will become of your family, of your future. So you can just imagine Wei’s happiness at getting released from prison. He seriously had tears in his eyes as he expressed his gratitude to everybody who had supported his cause.

His deportation case might not be decided yet, but he can at least spend time with his family once again.

It’s something Wei Zheng lost for awhile but has since regained.

It’s something we all can’t take for granted.

By the way, Wei Wei Noodles is currently looking for a chef to hire. Once they get the staffing in order, which should be extremely soon, look for the restaurant to reopen!

Our family Christmas tree is put up and all the Christmas decorations now adorn the living room, dining room, kitchen, etc.

Yes, I said it: Christmas.

I don’t know about you, but I intend to keep Christ in Christmas.

All this nonsense about wishing others Happy Holidays so as not to be insensitive and offend the sensibilities of anyone else completely takes the true meaning out of Christmas.

Yes, I understand there are other religions, cultures, races, ethnic groups who celebrate Hannukah, Kwanzaa, and all the rest. That’s the great melting pot of America where we live. Diversity IS  a good thing. So I believe if I don’t wish them whatever they do celebrate I would be offending them.

The same holds true in reverse.

I’m Christian. I believe in Christ and celebrate Christmas.

For all of you who worship the malls, Black Friday, and the hustle-and-bustle of the holiday season—fine. But don’t wish me Happy Holidays. You won’t get a response. If you’re not sure what people celebrate, just ask. I’m sure they’d be happy to set you straight. Use it as a conversation-starter. Get to know a neighbor or friend this year.

Merry Christmas. Oh yeah, and a Happy New Year, too.

Ohio State football fans became accustomed to winning ways again under former Buckeye football coach Jim Tressel. When I attended OSU in the mid-to-late 1980’s, 9-3 was the usual fare under the likes of Earle Bruce and John Cooper. But 9-3 wasn’t good enough to Buckeye Nation, which thirsted for something more than unrealized potential.

Along came Tressel from Youngstown State. A squeaky-clean image, solid recruiter, and a master motivator. The Buckeye faithful loved the guy most because he was a Wolverine beater—and anyone who can beat Michigan reaches god-like status in Columbus.

That’s why the fall from grace was so heavy and hard on scarlet-and-gray backers. All of a sudden, we were just like Michigan, not better than them. All of the jokes about scandal and snide comments about a dirty program had to be taken back—or worse yet, words eaten. Just like Wolverine fans had suffered from lean years and an uncertain future, so were OSU faithful facing the same prospect.

Buckeye Nation is searching for good news, any scrap of positive vibes from this season.

The unofficial dance between OSU athletic officials and Urban Meyer notwithstanding, football fans who bleed scarlet-and-gray are looking for the next Tressel—a proven winner who can run a squeaky-clean program and still contend for a national championship. Most of all, someone with a riverboat gambler’s mentality who can beat Michigan into submission, year-in, year-out.

Here’s hoping Urban Meyer is that guy. I’ve liked him since he cut his coaching teeth at Bowling Green. It’s been painful to be a Buckeye alumnus this year, and even tougher to be a football fan.