What a week!

In addition to getting ready to move to our new place, we’re also helping my wife’s parent’s move into their new house in the western suburbs. They were lucky enough to sell their house in California and we are blessed to have them back in Chicago after some 15 years away.

I’m still working on the book, website, expert interviews, this blog, and the book cover, just to name a few things.

In between all that small stuff, I also found the time to take Hannah, Alan and my mom to Lincoln park Zoo Thursday morning. We usually go to Brookfield Zoo, but my mom suggested Lincoln Park for some reason so we went there.

I was glad we did, because Lincoln Park Zoo is one of Chicago’s true treasures. It’s free for everyone so you get to see people from all parts of Chicago. It’s a real taste of Americana. With or without kids, this Zoo should be on your to do list. Any body coming to Chicago on vacation should also put the zoo on their itinerary.

After the Zoo, we were hungry, so we zipped downtown to the famed Mag Mile(Michigan Avenue). We ate lunch at the Grand Lux Cafe which is like a Cheescake Factory on steroids. I’ll talk more about the Grand Lux Cafe and Lincoln Park Zoo tomorrow. Until then I bid you peace!

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I just wrote a special newsletter for an exciting  product launch that I was invited to be a part of. Suffice it to say, I’m looking forward to the launch. I can’t reveal what the product is until next month, but I can tell you that a lawyer is involved! I hope you enjoy the landing page that I wrote for the launch. I show it here in its entirety.

Warning

Don’t date another Man until youRead this First! 

Would you buy a beautiful new car or house without first reading the fine print?

Then why in the world you ever get into a relationship with a guy without first knowing what’s under the hood? You’d at least want to kick the tires before you end up kicking him out right?

Have you ever wondered why some couples seem to get along so well? Together, nothing can stop them. You’ll sometimes see them strolling at the park hand in hand lost in each others eyes. You’d say hi, but you know that they wouldn’t acknowledge you. They’re in a different world…they’re in love.  They get along so well that they even finish each others sentences. It’s as if they can read each others minds!

You probably know couples like this. They might be your neighbors or just friends from work. The question is how do they do it? Is there some magic formula? Do they know something you don’t?

Would you like to know their secrets? 

If you’d like your next relationship to be more like one of those couples then you have come to the right place.

At Crack the Guy Code we strive to help our members cut through the clutter, cut through the baloney to get to what’s most important: YOUR RELATIONSHIP with YOUR GUY. We unravel the mysteries of the male mind one expert, one woman and one improved connection at a time.

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Ok, Ok, I realize I said I was going to write about this two weeks ago so please forgive me if this finds you waiting! I’m in the middle of writing my book Crack the Guy Code and the time just seems to slip by. Enjoy.

The other day I wrote about the amazing Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, TN and how much I wanted to bring my family the next time I go back. The Gaylord has a pool,  game room, family dining, boat rides, a mall close by as well as The Grand Old Opry. The fact that the inside atrium is so beautiful just adds to the fun.

Family vacations can be overwhelming for both the parents and the kids. I was reminded of this when a girl about Hannah’s age slipped past me to get on the escalator. The problem was that her parents had stopped and were not with her. The seven year old girl panicked and tried going up the escalator only to nearly fall and tumble down! I grabbed her until her mother came to get her. Her mother thanked me and the girl seemed to be OK.

I think the Gaylord does a good job of making sure families are relaxed and having fun. All the families seemed to be taking it easy and enjoying the amenities. I can’t wait to go back!(with my family)

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I recently saw Rock God Gene Simmons speak both on his career and where he came from. It turns out that the demon God of rock has a softer side. His road to success was paved with many things not the least of which are books. He also speaks several languages including Japanese, German, Hungarian, Hebrew and is learning Mandarin Chinese.

Simmons didn’t come off as a braggart mind you. Remember, it ain’t bragging if you can do it!

He came off exactly as you see him on TV: erudite, intelligent and well spoken.

Many know Simmons for his wild music act, KISS. Some of you may know him from his A&E cable show, Gene Simmons’s Family Jewels. From the outside looking in, one might think Simmons to be a sexist pig. When you dig deeper however, a different picture emerges. He came from a broken home. His father left his mother early on. His mother survived a Nazi concentration camp and moved to America when Gene was only 8.

Knowing not one word of English, he quickly learned that America was the land of opportunity and quickly set out to make his fortune. Simmons’s attitude is overwhelmingly positive. Wherever you’re at in life, he feels that you can find a better way. Just because somebody says no to you means nothing because there will always be another to tell you yes.Love and determination will find a way in Simmons’s world.

So whether you’re seeking new love or just trying to shore up your current connection, you will find a better way. According to Simmons, all you have to do is ask! It’s as simple as that.

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Hope you like this story. I think it’s a great follow up to yesterdays post, Men are from Mars and Women will Date Them! The story comes courtesy of HotTopicsJournalist.

Are Martians trying to tell us something? This image of an indentation on Mars resembles a heart, a common human symbol for love. Because intelligent Martians have never been known to exist, and because formations with similarities have been found that clearly result from natural phenomena, the pit shown above is thought not to be a form of interplanetary communication. Many scientists believe instead that the right-most wall of the two-kilometer wide heart-shaped pit was created by a naturally occurring graben, a surface drop caused by expansion along a fault-line.

Perhaps love is easier to find here on Earth.   Picture courtesy of Malin Space Science SystemStory courtesy of HotTopicsJournalist

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 In my recent informal poll of divorced women with kids, I noticed that all were somewhat hesitant to get back into the dating pool. When I asked why, they had several answers. Some had been burned and were not eager to get back into the “game” Some were lacking confidence for various reasons, while still others were just too busy with work, kids and everything else. Of those that were out on the “prowl”, many were finding the dating pool lacking. They could easily find someone for the night, but were having a hard time finding Mr. Right.My friend’s boyfriend recently left her after he found out he was the father of her soon to be born son. He’s been in denial ever since. He makes a good living, yet can’t find the money to support their baby boy. In court he’s even gone as far to ask her to swear on the bible that she had intercourse with him nine month previous to her baby boy’s birth! She asked if I knew any prospects to send her way. I replied that I knew of none, but I would do some research and see what I could find out.My initial research of the dating scene showed promise for women like my friend but fizzled once I looked deeper. Websites like Facebook, Myspace, eHarmony, AdultFriendFinder, and scores of others cater to people looking to date. 20 years ago women coming off a divorce and single women with children didn’t have these options. It would seem this would be a bonanza for divorced women like no other. No more singles bars, no more awkward moments. You could use the computer to “delete” the bad ones before you even saw them. For some women, it works out just like this. For others, there is just as much disappointment as before there was the internet. The problems are many: men can still lie while on the net; men can use the computer just as easy if not easier to blow a woman off; malicious guys can even spread rumors like never before. When I went back to my friend, I found her reading and smiling. I asked her what she was reading and she replied: John Gray’s Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus! When I asked her if she found any great male insight, she replied “Isn’t this a Martian dating guide?!”

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I’m now in the middle of writing my book tentatively titled Crack the Guy Code and I was thinking about the biggest guy secret of all. It wasn’t hard to come up with. It was really staring me right in the face all along. It didn’t have anything to do with sex or something untoward. In fact it was just the opposite. And it certainly wasn’t something that hadn’t been said before.

Before I reveal it, let me give you some context. Men often like to brag about their favorite sports heroes. For instance, in my early teens I got to see Michael Jordan play first in the Olympics and then for the Chicago Bulls. I even got to see him play at the old Chicago Stadium. I look forward to someday telling my son and his friends about Jordan’s exploits. I’ll be the first to tell you that Jordan is and was the very best athlete ever to play professional sports. Each guy has his own sports hero. Most guys will eagerly tell you who that is without hesitation.

Do men have female sports heroes? I doubt it. This is not to say that we don’t love and cherish the women in our lives (even if we don’t enunciate it). We like women for their warmth, their empathy, and much, much more. Like it or not, athleticism is not on the list. To be blunt, we worship women in a completely different way and it’s not what you’re thinking!

The truth of the matter is that we worship the ground women walk on. From our wives, to our mother’s, to our sisters, to our aunts, we think women are the bee’s knees. I would take no offense to someone calling me a momma’s boy. They are everything to us. They are our world because they run the world. We’ll do anything for you. We’ll do it all for you because we know you’ll always be there for us.

Guys may not consciously acknowledge this, but deep down we know women rule the world. We know only women create life. I’ve seen the miracle and near tragedy of birth so I can tell you first hand how amazing my wife is.

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I just got back from a seminar in Nashville, TN at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center conveniently located just 10 minutes from the airport. I mention the convenient location because that’s the first thing frequent travelers notice when they fly into a new town. If it’s not close, you tend to get annoyed real quick.

I used to think that only Las Vegas could handle large crowds of 1000 or more but I think the Gaylord can match up quite nicely with nearly as many amenities. The Gaylord offers nearly 3000 guest rooms all located under one roof. With that many rooms walking can get monotonous but not here. There are over seven acres of lush tropical gardens with a 44 foot cascading waterfall and a recreation of a delta river town. You can even take a flatboat ride down the river!

Hungry? Well, when you’re done with your meetings you can find one of 20 places to eat. Their steak house, Old Hickory Steakhouse won a prestigious Wine Spectator Award. If it’s fast food you want, you can pick up a quick pizza at Paisano’s or a quick burger and fries at Stax.

As you walk from place to place inside the giant seven acre atrium with its lush tropical gardens, you are never bored. Between the gardens, the river and the atrium, there was always something to look at.

As I walked around, the one thing I was disappointed about was that my family didn’t get to see it. I’ll write about this in tomorrows post so please stay tuned. See you tomorrow!

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We just got back from a great 2 daytrip to Coco Key Water Resort, www.cocokeywaterresort.com, at the Sheraton in Arlington Heights, IL. It’s great for us because we don’t have to fly anywhere or travel more than 45 minutes to get there. All our favorite things are also close by: Woodfield Mall, great restaurants and our friends and family.  As for the resort, it’s absolutely amazing.

The resort boasts over 75,000 square feet of space with an additional 10,000 square feet for an arcade when you  get water logged. There’s a bar with a restaurant and a side by side Pizza Hut/A&W. Towels are free and plentiful but lockers are small and extra.

While the lockers offer a cool keyless entry system, they sometimes don’t work if you stuff them to the gills. My locker decided not to work this time so I was stuck having to track down one of the few male life guards. The pool staff was gracious and accommodating but overtaxed from the onslaught of spring breakers like us.

Hannah and Alan absolutely loved the kid friendly pools. Kids of all ages can enjoy age specific areas. My kids really enjoyed the zero depth side with its two slides, mini basketball hoop and movie screen. Older kids enjoyed the 3-4 foot deep areas on the other side of the resort.

As far as mom and dad, we enjoyed the convenience. If you are hungry you can get your food relatively quickly. If you want a beer you can also get that and then bring it with you pool side. The lifeguards are very nice and polite and treated us like guests.

As far as the Sheraton goes, it’s OK. Marriott and Hilton have just as good accommodations with better food. The staff was helpful.

While Florida and Wisconsin boast far larger and numerous attractions and amenities, staying close to home has its own rewards. We look forward to coming back to our awesome water world.

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