Today, our engine company is one of the companies assigned with providing medical care and initial firefighting coverage for areas around Bank of America stadium. We are here before, during, and a little after the Panthers-Vikings game today.

Due to the large crowds we cannot easily drive our large fire truck around. Therefore, we are downsizing.

Here is one of our station’s normal fire trucks.

Here is our temporary downsized models.

If you are around the game today hit me up and say hi.

Eight years ago I covenanted in front of God, family, and friends to be a loving, faithful husband to my beautiful wife, Michele. I promised this to Michele regardless of whether we were in plenty, want, joy, sorrow, sickness, or health… and for as long as we are both alive. That still stands as one of the best decisions I have made in my life… and definitely one of the best promises I have made.

I am blessed to have her as part of my life and I am happy to celebrate eight years of sharing our lives together.

Here are snapshots of the past eight years together.

2011 Bechan’s Dedication

Thanks, JP, for an awesome photo of our family.

2010 Nick and Heather’s Wedding

2009 Mountain Trip With Our LifeGroup

2008 Charleston/Isle of Palms Vacation

2007 Kannapolis Knights Game

2006 Christmas In New York

2005 San Francisco

2004 Folly Beach Vacation

2003 – After Our Wedding

I think this should be our next training video at the station. Sure it is made for three- to six-year-olds, but it might prove to be very beneficial to sharpening our firefighting and rescue skills.

In this video I went from watching the driver to watching the people standing so close to the road as the car drove by. I then watched the driver again as he drove on the dirt road and I finally watched the sky and scenery as the driver drove higher up the mountain.

A few things to Where’s Waldo when you watch the video. Check out the guy I believe is acting like he is hitch-hiking. Check out the guy kneeling (in what I believe is) less than a foot away from the car as it enters a right turn. If you watch the video long enough, check out how the scenery changes around the six-minute mark. After that, there are parts of the road where all you see is blue sky and very little road.

Pikes Peak 2010 – Jeff Zwart In Car from Will Roegge on Vimeo.

Last Thursday, a few of us had the opportunity to help load fire hose onto the “Pink Lady.” The Pink Lady is our fire department’s newly-painted fire truck with a completely different paint scheme.

This fire truck is unique from the rest of our city’s fire vehicles because it is painted pink instead of the traditional red. Our fire department is working to help support breast cancer awareness and research fundraising. The Pink Lady is one of the ways we are showing support.

The truck’s first appearance was at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure this past weekend. It is already scheduled for other similar events.

This video is great. Over the last ten years as a firefighter, I have definitely learned that sometimes people just need a little company medical assistance, even if it happens to be at 1:00 a.m.

At times I do wonder what happens in the middle of the night to make people decide that is the exact time their head (or knee, foot, elbow, etc.) hurts enough to call 911. Maybe it is because the middle of the night is the time when the quiet becomes overwhelming. In that deafening quiet the mind begins to get out of control and listens to the rest of the body about how bad things feel. Perhaps, instead, it is due to the fact that the aches and pains cause the patient to not sleep. As the sleepless hours roll by those same insomnia-causing aches are amplified at it becomes hospital-traveling time.

Either way three things will remain. Firefighters will continue to get the late night calls for help. Firefighters will continue to hope for a full-night’s sleep. I still love my job and still love helping people in a way that can have immediate and direct impact in their lives… including those at 1:15 in the morning.

And a shout-out to all of my country music-loving friends out there. I had never heard of the song the video is parodying until a day or two ago when I was in the doctor’s office with Asher. A lightbulb went off and I finally put the two songs together.

According to the video’s description, three guys flew to 11 countries and over the course of 44 days filmed this video. They also filmed two other videos titled Learn and Eat, which are good. In my opinion, Move is by far the best and that is the one seen below.

Buckle your seat belts, put your trays up and seats in their upright position, and enjoy the visually stimulating Move.

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

Wow, it has been a month since I have last written a blog post. It has been a crazy end of the summer. For the past two months our company has been slammed (yay!!) and I have been working diligently to meet some important deadlines; Michele and I have been trying to play, entertain, and parent the rugrats; and I have been using every other available moment to cut down and cut up trees in our backyard. Now things are beginning to settle back into a comfortable routine and our family is about to get into a completely different routine over the next couple of weeks.

Asher officially starts kindergarten in four days. I am still trying to decide who is going to cry more: Michele or me. While Michele is the hands-on favorite, I could easily go all emotional as we drop Asher off at the front of his new school. Our house will be a little bit quieter beginning Tuesday morning, but not completely silent.

Our home will not be completely silent because we get to keep Becs at home for a few more years! Becs keeps telling me that she is also ready for kindergarten, but I told her that she needs to master walking and climbing stairs first. To help her with those and other toddler-essential skills Bechan starts pre-school this year. For her first year, Bechan is attending pre-school two days a week.

And so it begins. Over the next couple of weeks Michele, Bechan, Asher, and I are about to transition into new seasons of our lives. I hope our transitions will provide seasons for our whole family to both plant and harvest. I know it will definitely be a new season of our having to let go each weekday morning, but will be followed-up with big embracing hugs in the afternoons. I also know that in the first few days of Asher and Bechan’s school it will be both a season of crying and laughing for Michele and me.

Maybe it will be a season of dancing… I will have to get back with you on that one.

I am not bragging or anything, but Becs can already palm a beach ball… and she is only a one-year old. I see a future of her being a monster basketball player.

I know what you are thinking and the answer is yes. I have already added this photo to her already lengthy collegiate recruiting video.

Really? While I love dancing, I am horrible at it and this kid busts out a two-minute routine to Thriller. This is just more proof that the world is not fair.