Season 6 What's The Dream? Blog 13: Keynote

 Keynote

As you may recall, I spoke at OCALICONLINE last November with my public speaking mentor and family friend, Dr. Brooks, and Noah's soccer coach, Katie. Speaking at OCALICON (as it was called pre-Covid) was a goal that Dr. Brooks and I had been working toward since late summer 2019, shortly after I started speaking in her inclusion class at OSU. Our OCALICONLINE session was pre-recorded, so Dr. Brooks, Katie, and I spent the session answering questions in the chat box. This was stressful because when a question was asked, I felt like I had to answer it faster than I could type so that the audience could pay attention to my pre-recorded counterpart.

As soon as our session ended, I took a deep breath. I was not even able to breathe out before Dr. Brooks called me. I assumed she would just congratulate me on my first conference and debrief. While that was part of it, after she had congratulated me and we had debriefed, Dr. Brooks said, "So I have a proposal for you…."

According to their website, Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is "the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving the success of children and youth with disabilities and/or gifts and talents." Dr. Brooks just so happens to be the current president of the Ohio chapter of CEC. Her immediate predecessor, who we will call Ellen, came to our OCALICONLINE session. The board was planning this summer's conference, and Ellen headed the operation. In the middle of our session, Ellen texted Dr. Brooks, saying that she thought I would be the perfect keynote speaker! When Dr. Brooks told me, I completely lost my mind and immediately accepted the offer.

The conference was last Friday, June 8th, at Malone University in Canton, Ohio. On June 7th, Dr. Brooks picked me up at 1:00, and we drove to Canton. We got to the hotel around 3:20. Side note- I had my own hotel room, and the CEC Ohio Council paid for it, which was super cool! After we had checked in, we drove to Malone to help set up. When we got to campus, Dr. Brooks introduced me to the rest of the board, including another one of the speakers, who we will call Amy. I've known Amy since 2014 because she is the special-ed director at my high school, The Graham School (TGS), and its two sister schools.

After setting up and decorating, we went to a nice restaurant, and I got to know the board. Once we returned to the hotel, I took a shower. Afterward, Paige called me, and we talked about the Cousin Simple show she and my family had just gone to, and she hyped me up for the next day.

Dr. Brooks and I got to Malone at 8:00 on the morning of the conference. I spent the next hour mentally preparing myself. Fortunately, the conference started with a very quick yoga session. After yoga, Dr. Brooks introduced me, and I began speaking. I got really into the presentation, and honestly, I don't remember actually giving the talk. When I had finished, I went to my table to sell books (which I sold a ton of), and a woman walked up to me.

"Hi Mitchell," she said, shaking my hand, "my name is Jo Hannah, and I'm the head of the Special Ed Department at the Ohio Department of Education." After I greeted her, Jo Hannah continued, "Do you know someone named Sandra Ulibarri?"

"Yeah, she's my mom!" I replied.

"I went to high school with her!" she exclaimed.

Connecting with someone as influential as Jo Hannah is pretty cool, but it's not the only notable thing that happened. First of all, I meet a ton of other great people too, and I've made a lot of connections. Secondly, CEC of Ohio has offered me a spot on their board, and I am in the process of accepting! My goal for this season is to figure out what my "dream life" looks like and take steps toward getting there. I think this is a pretty big step, don't you think?

Have A Greattastic Day, and Be Safe!

J. Mitchie Ulibarri

Season 6 What's The Dream? Blog 12: Fun Facts And Pizza

 Fun Facts And Pizza

On Memorial Day, Mom, Dad, Ryan, Luke, Josh, Pop-Pop, Sara, Eva, Zach, Paige, and I entered Dad's studio to clean up from Josh's graduation party two days prior. Shortly after we arrived, Josh's classmate, whom he had shared the party with, showed up with his parents to help. When we finished, we all piled into Dad's big work van and went to the Leveque Tower, where Aunt Alicia and Austin stayed. Leveque Tower is a staple of the downtown Columbus skyline, and I've been looking at it my entire life, so it was really cool to be inside. After that, we went and got lunch, dropped Eva and Zach off at the airport, then went to a giant bookstore called the Book Loft. Finally, we went to a music store because Ryan had promised Luke a new guitar for his birthday, but he wanted Luke to pick it out.

After the guitar store, I took Paige home. Even though I wasn't looking at her, I felt the weight from all the socializing we had done that weekend hit her about halfway through the drive. I didn't want to burn her out by hanging out with her too much for the rest of the week. So after we had said goodbye and she was getting out of my car, I said, "See you at the show on Thursday!"

"See you then," she replied.

As you may know, Luke and Josh are in a band called Box Seats. Luke is the lead singer, and he plays guitar, and Josh plays drums. The other two band members, Freddy and Max, attend college out of town, so they couldn't play shows during the school year (though they did still release music). As I explained in the installment about Luke's graduation (Graduation, Box Seats, and Chicago), Box Seats played Luke and Freddy's joint graduation party. I was excited for Box Seats to do the same for Josh's. However, because the guy Josh had his graduation party with is not in Box Seats, they decided it would be a good idea for them not to play it. I could only accept this because I knew they were playing the next Thursday, June 1st.

That Thursday, Paige and I hung out for a little bit. We picked up Noah at 6:50, and we Lyfted to the venue. They played at a place called Kafe Kerouac. Half of the venue is a coffee shop plus a full bar, and the other half is a small room with a stage for live music. It was a small venue, but it was packed with fans for both Box Seats and the band they were opening for. There were a few people there that I knew. My parent's neighbors, Stephen and Robin; their daughters, Megan and Rachel; our friends Kristin and Tim, both Freddy and Max's families; and Josh's new girlfriend, Lindsey.

Now I love Box Seats' music; it's excellent. But my favorite thing about the band is the fact that Luke and Josh don't have stage personas. I'm a great storyteller in real life, but I tend to ramble. This blog/podcast and my books give some much-needed structure to my storytelling. I am not saying that my personality doesn't bleed into this series; it's just a little bit restrained.

Luke and Josh, on the other hand, don't restrain their personalities at all when they're performing. My first example is their song "Old Friends." I can't explain to you why this song is so special without literally breaking the entire song down, but it's the perfect encapsulation of Luke's personality. My second example is, between two of their songs, Luke asked the crowd, "So does anyone know any fun facts?" Nobody responded because we were all caught off guard, But when Luke saw me standing in front, he said, "Mitchell, I know you have some fun facts!" In middle school, I got the worst case of poison ivy ever! It was all over my face, chest, legs, feet, arms… everything! I was miserable. It was so bad I couldn't sleep, so I spent a few nights watching TV. On one of these nights, I discovered the TV channel Investigation Discovery… And I got really into True Crime. So when Luke asked me if I knew any fun facts, I could only think of weird true crime statistics, and I knew I couldn't repeat any of them! So I awkwardly stared at my brother until he giggled and continued with the show!

My third and final example: shortly after Luke asked me the fun facts question, they performed a new, untitled song they have not released yet. This new song doesn't have drums till the very end. Josh took this time to go to the green room, and grab a slice of pizza, then came back on stage, sat at the drum set, and finished the pizza just in time for him to play. My point is… the level of goober you have to be to do either of those things while performing is ridiculous, and the level of confidence you have to have to pull it off is even more so. I hope that I can be a little more like them someday.

Have a Greattastic Day and be Safe! 

J. Mitchie Ulibarri

Season 6 What's The Dream? Blog 11: Graduation, Girlfriends, And A Pig Roast

 Graduation, Girlfriends, And A Pig Roast

As I explained in the installment about Luke's graduation last year (Graduation, Box Seats, And Chicago), my grandpa (Pop-Pop) and my cousin Austin were the only out-of-towners who came. This year for Josh's graduation, Pop-Pop brought his friend Sara, and Austin's mom, Aunt Alicia, also came. On the day of the party (Saturday, May 27th), my Aunt Eva and Uncle Zach also flew up. My girlfriend, Pagie, is from a big family, and every year, her parents host a pig roast for her Dad's side of the family over Memorial Day weekend. Coincidentally, the pig roast happened to be on the same weekend Josh graduated.

On that Friday, I arrived at Paige's house around 2:15. We hung out for about an hour and 15 minutes before her cousin Marcus, came with his kids. We played with the kids for 30 minutes, and then I had to get back to my parent's house, so we could all head to St. Charles Preparatory High School for the graduation Mass. My grandma and step Grandpa (Nimba and Papa), Alicia and Austin, met Pop-Pop, Sara, Mom, Dad, Ryan, Luke, and me, at St. Charles. Toward the end of the Mass, all 114 people in Josh's class received their diplomas; the Mass ended, everyone cheered, and the graduates threw their caps.

Josh had an after-party, so the rest of my family went to dinner at a distillery. Coincidentally, the distillery that we went to was only four minutes away from an Irish bar that Paige's family was at. So my family dropped me off, and I said hi to the cousins I had already met and introduced myself to those I had not. I spent the night talking and playing darts with Paige's cousins and her mom.

One of Paige's cousins, Kelly, got married in February. It was a small wedding, so a reception was held on Saturday afternoon since the family was in town. I arrived at the house where the reception was held about 20 minutes after Paige and her mom did. After I mingled for a little bit, Paige and I left to go to Dad's Studio (Kobolt) for Josh's graduation party.

We got coffee to keep ourselves going and then entered the party. We began to mingle, and I introduced Paige to my extended family and friends she had not met yet. The entire party went by quickly, but everyone told me how much they loved Paige the whole time. Toward the end of the party, Mom offered to let Paige stay at her house on the couch since she had to sleep on the floor at her house. After Josh's party ended, Paige and I returned to her house to begin the two-day pig roast. Her extended family gradually arrived until 10:20, when embers from the fire were put into the pit, and the pit was covered to cook the pig. An hour later, everyone gathered around, and last year's Christmas tree was burned to kick off the next day's celebration.

Yet another one of Paige's cousins, Chris, is getting married in mid-June, so all the women went to a bridal shower on Sunday morning. After Mass, my family and I went to lunch, and when we got back to my parent's house, Paige, her mom, her aunt Ronnie (Marcus' mom), and her Granddaughter were waiting to pick me up. Our families met, introductions were made, and Marcus' daughter chased me (and, more comically, Luke) around the house. While I was occupied, Ronnie and Austin got to talking and discovered that they both live in Pittsburgh, and they got each other's numbers to meet up at some point.

We got back to Paige's house, and once Paige's Grandma, who had just turned 100, arrived at 4:00, the pig was dramatically taste tested, and we all ate. Shortly after, Paige and I left to go bowling with my immediate family, Pop-Pop, Sara, Eva, Zach, Austin, Alicia, and the Mitreys (Alex, Nicholas, and Ellie… Maci is in Spain). After bowling, we returned to my parent's house. Mom, Eva, Zach, Austin, Alicia, Paige, and I played board games late into the night.

This was one of my favorite weekends in recent memory. For one thing, obviously, I'm happy that Josh graduated high school. For another, since Eva's mom, no one has met any of Pop-Pop's significant others. Plus, I'm too young to remember them as a couple, so it was nice to meet Sara. Mirroring my second point, while my immediate family (and Pop-pop) have met some of my previous girlfriends, no one else has met them. On top of that, I have met the families of two of my exes. Still, one was a high school relationship, so it wasn't serious. As you may recall, the only family member Gabby had left was her Grandmother (who hated me). All of this to say, the level of love Paige and I have received from the other's extended family is something neither of us has experienced before, and we're both still riding that high a week later!

Congratulations on graduating Josh, 

can't wait to hear about your Greattastic college experience! 

J. Mitchie Ulibarri

Season 6 What's The Dream? Blog 10: COSI After Dark

COSI After Dark

In downtown Columbus, there is a place called COSI (Center Of Science Industry). It has a ton of interactive exhibits for kids and preteens/teenagers. The last time I was there was when I was 16. COSI hosts a monthly 21+ event called COSI After Dark. There's a different theme each month, and I've wanted to go for the last couple of years. May 4th is Star Wars Day because of a pun (May 4th be with you)!

On April 13th, Mom texted me a link for a COSI After Dark event happening that night. The theme for that night was prom, and Mom thought I should bring my girlfriend, Paige. I asked her, knowing she would probably say no, as it was too short notice. But after I told her about COSI After Dark, she noticed that the next one was on May 4th, and it was Star Wars themed, so we decided to go to that one instead.

I accidentally bought three tickets; Paige's best friend Nicole and my brothers Luke and Josh are underage, and anyone else I asked had other plans. I offhandedly told a few coworkers, Libby, Carly, Violet, and Mark, that Paige and I were going, and they said they would love to go. I explained that I could get one person in, and Carly was chosen. While Libby was inevitably unable to go, I also invited my other coworker Savannah, her husband, Liam, our former coworker (Savannah's workplace bestie) Ruby, and her fiancé, Jacob.

The event started at 7:00, so our Lyft dropped Paige and I off at 6:50. We waited at the front doors for everyone to arrive. Once everybody met us, we got in line, and my coworkers watched as Paige and I “nerded” out. When we walked in, we saw lots of people cosplaying (dressed up as) Star Wars characters, and they were all very impressive! There was also a full-size remote control R2-D2 rolling around the common area.

We made our way to a jello shot stand and then went to the bar. Around this time, we got separated from Savannah, Liam, Ruby, and Jacob. After we toured some special Star Wars exhibits, we heard they had karaoke in the planetarium. As soon as we found out… I had no choice… I had to sing!

The COSI Planetarium looks like a college lecture hall, with all the seats pointed down toward the speaker (or, in this case, the singer). I chose to sing "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen. Unfortunately, they used a weird recording of the song in which only drums were played (there's also a piano and guitar in the actual song), so I was singing way too fast. But considering that, I did pretty well!

After karaoke, Mark and I had a quick lightsaber fight, and then we went around to some more exhibits. To be frank, COSI After Dark wasn't what I had expected. I thought the night's theme would take over everything, but other than the cosplayers, R2-D2, and a few special exhibits; it was effectively COSI + alcohol. Even though it wasn't what I thought it would be, that's okay. Things don't have to be perfect. As long as you have good people by your side, you can always have a wonderful time!

Have a Greattastic Day and Be Safe!

J. Mitchie Ulibarri

Season 6 What's The Dream? Blog 9: The Scroll

 The Scroll

As I was getting ready to leave for Cadillac, Michigan, after the brunch with Paige, Kid, and August, August and Kid were texting me, telling me how much they loved her. Arden called me, asked for updates, and after I caught her up, she advised that I ask Paige to be official. While I wanted to, I was worried that it was too soon.

On Tuesday, March 28th, I called Paige from the cabin. During our talk, I jokingly mentioned that I had tried to get my revenge for the brunch situation by finding her best friend, Nicole, on Instagram. However, she followed like five Nicoles, and I wasn't going to go through each one. On Thursday morning, a few hours before I was supposed to leave for Chicago, I got a notification that Nicole had followed me. We spent the morning messaging and setting up a hangout at Topgolf for the Tuesday after Easter. When I was about to end the conversation, Nicole messaged, "Also, what's the hold up on making it official?"

I realized that if her best friend was asking me about it, Paige was ready to make it official. Nicole and I were scheming the entire time I was in Chicago, and Paige caught on to it. Nicole and her boyfriend had a date on the night of Tuesday, April 4th, and Paige and I had coincidentally, separately, planned a date. The day before, Nicole told Paige that she was going to get a cute dress for her date the next afternoon, and she asked Paige if she wanted to come along and do the same.

They didn't have a set time for when they would hang out, but I was picking Paige up at 5:00. Having not heard anything yet when my students left school, I panic-called Nicole, but unfortunately, Paige was with her. I was going to buy Paige flowers, but by the time I finished all the work I needed to get done, I just had to get dressed and pick her up. To my surprise, she handed me flowers when she came to my car!

We went to a restaurant called Pelino's Pasta. After our waiter sat us down and walked away, I told Paige I had to go to the bathroom and stood up to follow him. He walked to another table, so I awkwardly changed course, hoping any employee would make eye contact. A waitress did, and I motioned for her to follow me. "Hi," I explained, pulling out a small scroll, "I'm asking my date to be my girlfriend tonight. If you could put this in her dessert, that would be perfect!" The waitress took the scroll, and I hid in the bathroom for 5 minutes.

Pelino's serves three or four-course meals (depending on your preference). Paige and I got a three-course meal. Once our first two courses were over, I started getting nervous because I knew dessert was up next. With how much Nicole and I had been talking, me panic calling her in Paige's presence, and the fact that Paige had bought me flowers, I assumed she had to know it was coming (she didn't).

I was expecting the Tiramisu we had ordered to come on a plate; instead, it came in what can only be described as a fancy watering can. The scroll was in the spout, and our waiter faced the spout toward Paige. I assumed she saw it, which she did, but she thought it was just part of the aesthetic. All this girl wanted was to eat her dessert, as I launched into a heartfelt speech about how good of a time I'd been having with her. "... And I want to see what happens next," I said at the end of my speech. "But it might just be easier if you read the scroll!"

"The Scroll?" she asked. I awkwardly pointed to her dessert. She looked at mine, realized there was no stroll in it, looked back at me, and exclaimed, "When did you plan this?!" As if I'd just pulled off some big bank heist. She pulled the scroll out of the spout, unrolled it, and read the calligraphy, "Will you be my girlfriend?" She smiled, looked at me, and said, "Yes!"

Have a Greattastic Day and be Safe!

J. Mitchie Ulibarri

Season 6 What's The Dream? Blog 8: Meet (Half Of) The Andersons

 Meet (Half Of) The Andersons

I spent the next two weeks after Cousin Simple played at the Newport working on publishing my second book, "Once In A Lifetime: A Song For Sam." As a result, I could not hang out with Paige until St. Patrick's Day. We went to Seesaw, which is a local restaurant and Bar/club, and it was here that we had our first kiss. St. Patrick's Day was on a Friday this year, and Paige and I set up dates for that Sunday (March 19th) and the following Thursday (March 23rd).

Now shortly after my "sister" August broke up with her boyfriend, Ben, last year, she started dating a guy named Daniel. Well, in late February, August found out that she was pregnant! On March 25th, August flew to Columbus for the weekend to tell Kid, their parents, and me the news. However, once she was in town, she decided not to. I went over for dinner that night, and August said she'd given up alcohol for Lent. This wouldn't have been a big deal, but we are a very suspicious group of people. I think August was worried that we would figure it out if we thought about it too much. So she turned the focus on my love life.

"So Mitchie," she asked, "how are things going with you and this Paige girl?"

"Really well!" I said. After that, I told them about the wonderful three dates that we had had.

"When are we going to meet her?" Kid asked when I had finished.

When I first introduced the girls to my friend Noah, all four of my "sisters" were in town. Each girl is crazy on her own, but when they're together, they feed off each other and get crazier. When Noah first met them, he didn't like them because it was overstimulating. But after he's met them individually, everyone's cool. After this event, I decided to only introduce my friends and or significant others to my "sisters" one at a time. So out of the previous two girls I've dated in my adult life, Aspen is the only one who has met one of them.

Not wanting to miss out this time, August found Paige on Instagram, followed Paige, and once she accepted the request, August Dmd her. She asked if Paige would be willing to go out to brunch with her, Kid, and me, and Paige said yes. Mostly to mess with me; after the date was secured, August and Kid started chanting, "We're gonna steal your girlfriend, we're gonna steal your girlfriend!"

The following day, when I picked Paige up to go to Northstar, I told her, "Okay, so I don't think they're going to be too crazy because we're going to be in public, but just so you know how potentially crazy this could get, last night they were both chanting, 'We're gonna steal your girlfriend.'"

She immediately responded, "Well, they might!"

If I'm being completely honest, August would have done this whether or not she needed to distract us from her big news. This is just the kind of thing that she would do… But the day after this brunch, I went on spring break to Cadillac, Michigan, for the week, and then Chicago that weekend. August would finally call me the following Sunday (April 2nd), right when I was getting ready to head to O'Hare Airport, to tell me that she's pregnant. All this to say, during my entire spring break, I didn't know August's intentions for the branch. Since I thought it was just normal August behavior, I thought it was only fair that I get my revenge and meet Paige's best friend.

To Be Continued…

Season 6 What's The Dream? Blog 7: Not Just A Background Character (Part 1)

 Not Just A Background Character

My brother Ryan and his friends (Will and Mitch) went to St. Charles Preparatory High School. While there, they became friends with another guy whose name also happened to be Ryan. Will, Mitch, and Ryan have been playing music together since their eighth-grade year and started Cousin Simple their junior year. Shortly after the band was founded, they performed in a battle of the band's competition. It was here that I officially met the other Ryan and, more importantly, for the sake of this installment, his sister Paige.

I give off, as the kids say, main character energy, and I always have. I have grown up a lot, but in 2017, when the Battle of the Bands happened, the world revolved around me. Paige is a lot quieter than I am, so even though I've known her for six years, she has been a background character in my life for most of that time. As a result, while I'm sure we did talk, none of our conversations escalated past small talk.

In Season 3, I released an installment called "The Kid Kronicles #1-Jimothy." In it, I mentioned that in December 2019, I went to an ugly Christmas sweater party, dressed up in a Grinch costume. Well, this ugly sweater party was hosted at the house of someone who went to St. Charles with both Ryans, Will, and Mitch. So naturally, Paige was there too. She was drinking a little bit, and it was, under those circumstances, she and I had our first legitimate conversation. I remember almost immediately being attracted to her as we conversed, but I caught myself. Mitchell, I thought, she's Ryan's friend's baby sister. It could be really awkward if you make a move. And so I squashed any feelings that could have developed into a crush. Not gonna lie; the pending pandemic did help!

At the beginning of March, Cousin Simple played at Newport Music Hall. As mentioned in the installment, I wrote about that show (Columbus Against The World); my grandma (Nimba) signed a Cousin Simple groupie's T-shirt. When I was still recovering from the awesomeness that was that moment, I looked up and saw Mom charging at the railing toward me. Since so much was happening, I was a little overstimulated, and it took me a bit too long to realize that Mom was dragging Paige with her!

Because I had been worried about making things awkward in Ryan's friend group, I hadn't told Mom about how I had almost developed a crush on Paige at the ugly sweater party. She just thought Paige would like to see a familiar face. Fortunately, Paige misread Mom's intentions and thought the only reason Sandra would be dragging me toward Mitchell was if he had a crush on me!

I helped Paige under the railing and into the mosh pit, and as we talked between bands, I thought, oh yeah, I definitely like this girl. Because she had already assumed I had a crush on her, she picked up on what I was thinking and started flirting with me. After Cousin Simple played their set, I turned to Paige and said, "We should hang out sometime."

"Absolutely," she replied, "What's your number?"

To Be Continued…