The big day

Tuesday morning the kids and I go to the neighborhood school to get The Talker registered for Kindergarten. He is excited as he can be. Me? I am just a little anxious. I don't want him to end up in a class taught by some evil old cow. They have a long questionnaire to try to place kids in the most appropriate classes. So I am hoping that I let them know enough about the boy that we avoid the one kindergarten teacher all of our neighbors seem to dislike.

We were there this morning for story time and a campus tour. The boy was in love with the fact that he made a new friend who shares his first name. He has never met another boy with the same name. Yeah, great choice, mom and dad. Tell me about it, OK.

And my impression of the school? That place is a freaking tinderbox. There is so much paper hanging from the walls and ceilings that it is a good thing there is no smoking on campus. I hope they have a good sprinkler system. I did not really notice anything else. I was too busy gawking at all of the combustibles taped and tacked to the walls, floors and ceiling.

Every. Damn. Hallway. Was decorated like another scene from the ocean. Including a kelp forest hanging from the ceiling and butcher paper whales and eels overhead. I hope they have a paper company as a campus donor. Otherwise I can guess where our arts and crafts budget will be going.

So in a few hours I'll be the proud parent of a fully registered kindergartener. And it looks like soon he will be able to help wall paper the kitchen in a couple of years!

The boy is a commode-ian

The Talker told us a joke last night.

"Why did the something do something or the other." Well, those were not his exact words, but I forget what he was telling us about. And the joke? It just sort of wandered all around and then we laughed when he told us the joke was over.

I don't know where the boy gets his sense of comedy and timing.



You laugh now, OK?

Home run!

I just made it in from my weekend of freedom. I am betting I walked 20 miles at the swap meet. And I must have done something wrong, because I did not come home with much stuff and I still had some cash left over.

More about my treasure hunt over on TruckinDaddy.

I stopped at my nephew's 8th birthday party on the way home. It was nice to see Sis and her family, but I am such a homebody that I was ready hop in the car and to get the last hour of driving behind me.

The kids had a good weekend with The Boss Lady and The Mother of the Bride. After the miles I marched on my treasure hunt, I am wiped out. Good Night.

Road trip!

I am taking off in a couple of hours for a long solo weekend. Yeah for me!

The Pate Swap Meet is calling my name. It should be really exciting. Two or three days of walking around the parking lots at Texas Motor Speedway, looking at rusty car parts.

I can't for the life of me figure out why the wife and kids don't want to go. Actually, The Talker would love to go, but I haven't given him the choice. Instead, they get to hang out at work with The Boss Lady today and with their old granny on Friday.

See you guys from Ft Worth.

When I die...

just kick me underneath the laundry pile. There surely is enough over there to hide a dead body.


And if I get any fatter? Well there are five loads left to run though the washer and dryer. And that DOES NOT count the four loads I put away already this morning. But when the boy complains about having no clothes to wear, and his dresser is actually empty, it is time to fold.

Man, I hate folding laundry. Which explains why there are 6 loads waiting to be folded on the couch. But The Mother of the Bride will be here Thursday or Friday, so I am cleaning and folding today.

I am currently trying to decide if it is possible to play on the PS2 and fold clothes at the same time. You know, fold something. Play a little. Pause the game and repeat the cycle. After all, Madden 07 football (which I happen to RULE!) gives you like 40 seconds to call each offensive play. Surely I can fold a pair of the boy's drawers in 35 seconds and still run a tight offense, right?

Man I hate laundry. Why didn't we raise a herd of nudists?

Edit: 1 hour and 10 minutes later,

I have now uncovered the couch. Nope, I did not start a laundry fire. I sorted the unfolded clothes into piles depending on where the clothes are supposed to end up. Then I folded the kid's clothes. Now we are just covering the love seat.

And one more complaint. I need to hide the dryer knobs from the wife. Drying seems to be taking too long today. Finally I checked the temp setting and sure enough, she had turned off the nuclear heat that I depend on.

All to save her wimpy little gentle cycle loving work clothes from getting fried. Bah. Everyone knows well-done polyester is the mark of a successful woman. Sure. That shows all the otter chicks that your loving hubby is at home cooking your dress suits for you. So there.

Ladies, keep your hands off of my knobs.

Another busted night in outfield

We headed out to the ball park again tonight to watch our beloved Round Rock Express play some AAA baseball. They lost. But like last time, we were already home by game's end.

Last time out, things got a little too serious and we scooted out early. This time, no ambulances. I guess that is progress. But The Talker got stung by something at the playscape, so we bugged out in the 4th inning and headed home. Yep, they have a playscape behind the outfield berm. The kids hangout over there with mom and I get to actually watch a few innings of the game.

We only have tix to 8 more games this season. Hopefully before season end we will actually stay for the end of the game.

Lip smacking, thirst quenching. TrueBlue.

Our kids love juice. We go through gallons of juice every month. Especially now that I have quit drinking Dr Pepper. A couple of weeks ago I agreed to sample some TrueBlue blueberry juice and to post about it here.

I had never heard of TrueBlue. So I read up about it before having them ship the goods out here. It sounded pretty good and I knew the kids would love it. A few days later the UPS man dropped off a case.

I am not sure I can come up with a better review than The Talker and The Princess. She told me "It's yummy." He let me know that "It taste-es greatest." and "It's awesome!" I think we found a new favorite juice.

Our usual grocery store does not carry TrueBlue. Not yet anyways. They are pretty good about bringing customer requests to the store shelves. And as we polish off our last freebie bottle, we will be begging them to carry TrueBlue.

The TrueBlue came at a great time for me. I was really wanting to restart my daily ration of Dr Pepper. Since we started drinking TrueBlue blueberry juice, I haven't really missed the Dr.

An aside. This stuff has made me nostalgic for my young adult years. I spent a long summer in northern Indiana. The little town had a fall festival celebrating all things blueberry. As the summer wound down, planning for The Blueberry Festival (known by locals simply as "The Blueberry") was in full swing. Sadly, I left town a week before The Blueberry.

But I bet they would have loved TrueBlue up there.

A tough way to save $8

Yesterday the kids and I ran to Best Buy to pick up a memory card for the new PlayStation 2 that has quickly become a beloved family member. After all, the PS2 and The Princess both like to stay awake all night. And like Talker, the PS2 really digs video games. That is evident by the stack of games that have already taken over one corner of the entertainment cabinet.

But I feel old. And stupid. Because I am not yet in touch with my inner video game addict.

You see, while we were accessorizing the PS2 I saw a Simpson's video game for $10. Like the genius who first combined pizza and beer, I saw a brilliant flash of light and heard heavenly angels. Combining two great things, The Simpson's AND video games? The world is now a perfect place. Well done PS2 child of mine.

Back to the stupid. So I get home rip open the package and then, AND ONLY THEN, so I read the box. D'oh. Nintendo Game Cube? Who the heck sold me a Nintendo Game Cube game and let me tear apart the packaging? What a moron.

Best Buy return trip? Not worth the hassle. Some dumb ass opened the game and they won't take it back. The might exchange it but only for the identical game. Could I get the same game for my PS2? No one seems to know the answer to that great mystery.

So this evening I headed over to the used DVD and video game exchange store. I traded my one and only, never even played Game Cube game and $12 for a barely used, only played on Sunday afternoons, after church, by a little old lady copy of Madden 07. Which I almost bought new last night for $30. Let someone else pay the depreciation I say. Those video games start to lose value as soon as you drive 'em off the lot.

In the end, the football game cost my lovely wife $22 plus tax and a quarter gallon of gas. So I saved her $8 on my football game and I stayed out of her hair for several hours this afternoon while she took a nap. In the end, I bet she thinks it is a pretty good trade, too.

By the way, The Houston Texas wooped up on the Colts twice tonight. And my thumbs hurt.

Maybe I should get a Blackberry to exercise my thumbs.

I agree with Phil.

My thumbs hurt, I stayed awake until 2AM and I am not sure I ever got past the title screen. But it looks really cool!

Now I just have to find a seven year old to teach me how to use my new toy.

What was that woman thinking?

So The Boss Lady is heading out of town early in the morning. She will be gone one night at least. So she was feeling a little guilty about it tonight. Added to that she had a wicked rough day at work. So we went shopping tonight. She bought clothes, the kids each got a $10 toy and I scored a PlayStation 2 and four games. Since the PS3 is out, they are practically giving these things away. And the games were all on sale, too.

Sure it is not the newest thing out, but it is plenty cool enough to keep me entertained for years since I have not owned a console video game since the first generation Atari. Now those games kicked butt and all, but I am looking forward to hitting the couch and playing hours of Gran Turismo 4 tomorrow.

I guess I'll have to wait until the kids are asleep to really get any good playtime in. Can you say "everyone under 6 years old takes a long nap on Friday"?

Dads gone wild

I am heading out to Dad's Night Out, a once a month gathering of SAHDs without kids and with drinks. Lots of drinks.

I haven't been out to one of these DNO gatherings in a while. I tried a while back, but that is the night that Marge got hit in the butt end and beat up a Ford Taurus.

Anyways, I am hoping they will serve me something stronger than the water or blueberry juice I have been guzzling lately (more about that later...) I wonder what a bottle of Jack Daniels and a straw goes for these days.

often go awry...

I guess I should have finished the quote that I paraphrased for the title of my earlier post.

Here is the exploratory hole they dug, and refilled, while looking for the old cable.


And why where they having to EXPLORE for the cable? That is a good question, and one for which neither I nor the cable company have an adequate answer. But let's just say, it wasn't where they thought it was when this all started.

And the big machine that they brought to keep from digging up my yard? It was cool looking. And it looked really LOUD but I'll never know. They did not use it. Turns out they need a truckload of guys with shovels to dig a trench by hand.

So I have been promised a truckload of guys within a week to get a hole dug in my yard. And the cable lays in the grass.

But the backyard still hasn't been dug up, so I feel like my sod got a death row reprieve. Anybody want to start a betting pool on whether they actually dig up my yard next week or not?

Here is a picture of the hassle.


The red line shows basically a straight line to the other end of this cable. The blue line is where I want it buried if it must be my yard. The pink line is the best route, right down the fence, in the neighbor's yard (it is her cable by the way).

And the red X? That is where they found the line this morning. No way in hell are they digging that far into my yard.

Have I ever told you how much I love my satellite system?

The best laid cables...

I have been trying to decide what to do with the kids today. We have been going to the Children's Museum a lot lately. It is too cold and rainy for a park. We did the YMCA kid's program yesterday. The mall? Our best option, so far.

I walked into The Talker's bedroom and I heard someone out in our front yard. Sure enough, the cable company has sent some guys out to finish the work they started on February 7. Here is a follow up post about the adventure.

Since it has taken this long to get a response from the cable company, I guess we are sitting at home to make sure they get the job done without trashing the backyard.

The Princess sings!

The Princess was playing in her room. It took me about 15 minutes of hearing this to realize what she was doing. I shot most of the video from the hallway, hidden from her view. I knew that she would stop as soon as she saw the video camera.

You might have to turn up the speakers. I was pretty far away from her when I started shooting.

Bribery. It's what's for bedtime!

The past few weeks have been really tough around here. The Princess hasn't slept worth a damn since we got home from Disney World. It has been taking two hours or more to get her to go to sleep. Every. Damn. Night.

Not fun. By the time she falls asleep the wife and I either so worn out that sleep is immediate (her) or so worked up from the fight that sleep does not come at all (me). The Princess had never been good about going to bed, but she does fine 99.9% of the time at nap. What's the difference? We've got no freaking clue.

But I need some sleep and I need it last week.

Last night I decided we would try an all out assault on bedtime for The Princess. A $7 bag of M&Ms from Costco seemed like it might do the trick. Yep, we are bribing her to sleep. 10 M&Ms went into a cup. If mom or dad has to come into the room after lights out, then M&Ms start disappearing from the cup. Whatever is left in the morning can be a breakfast appetizer.

Last night she got up two times. But she was back in bed without a fight and asleep in 20 minutes or so. The remaining 8 M&Ms were the first course of her pumpkin bread and milk breakfast. Good eating!

Yessiree. Just call me the Godfather of Snore. I'll pay kickbacks for a good night's sleep. You should see what I would do for maid service twice a week.

A seasoned traveler speaks

Our neighbors are moving to Turkey. The wife grew up in Turkey and the husband works all over the middle east and eastern Europe. He seldom gets to come home and see his family. So they are moving closer to her parents.

I heard that the neighbor was in town for a couple of days after being gone for 6 months or more. So I stopped by last night to say "Hi and Bye". While we were chatting he was cleaning his car and his 4 year old daughter was riding her tricycle in the driveway.

At this point in her life she has spent almost as much time living in Turkey as here and she was telling me all about the move. Then she started listing off all of the countries she has been to.

England, France, Egypt, Turkey, Kuwait, Bahrain, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Japan... The list just did not seem to have an end. I was flabbergasted that a 4 year old has traveled this much.

But then she spoke the truest words ever spoken by a world traveling 4 year old.

"My favorite country to travel to is.... TEXAS!"

Spring is here. Don't blink.

The weather turned out gorgeous today. And we made good use of a beautiful afternoon.

Yesterday was a pretty day, but there was a 20+ mile per hour wind that just would not stop. So it ended up being a nice day to be inside, looking out a window.

Making up for lost time, The Talker and I headed outside as soon as lunch was over. I wanted to work on the truck, he wanted to avoid nap time that was about to be enforced by The Boss Lady. So we compromised.

He ran around in the front yard with the neighbor kids while I adjusted the front brakes. When I needed a helper to hold down the brake pedal, The Talker would come right over and sit behind the wheel of the truck for a while. He did a great job.

One unintended consequence of our afternoon repairs, the neighbor boys were incredibly jealous that The Talker got to help work on the truck. It was pretty amusing to watch.

The rest of the family went back to church this evening. I was heading up there a little later but the nice weather stopped me in my tracks. Instead I ended up washing the truck and working in the yard. So if God gets mad at me for skipping church tonight, I'll offer Him a ride in my nice, shiny truck. And maybe the neighbor kids will be jealous of that, too.

Lying groundhog

So I thought the groundhog said winter was almost over. He lied.

It is about 50 here today, but there is a 30 mph wind blowing that is making it feel much colder. I am ready for REAL spring weather to get here. Heck, at this point I would even take the hot and dry of mid-summer.

The Talker had a soccer game this morning and we had team pictures before. Standing around the soccer field for an extra half hour would not have been so bad if we had not already been to an outdoor carnival at the YMCA. By the time we got home we are all pretty well beat up by the wind.

The Princess was the smartest of us all. She sat in her folding chair, wrapped in a blanket for almost the entire time we were at the soccer field. Now that we are home the kids and wife are napping and I am heading for the couch to study the inside of my eyelids. While I nap maybe I'll dream about hunting down that lying groundhog.

Happy Birthday Boss Lady

So last night turned out a little different than I hoped. We were going to hang out at the ball park and celebrate The Boss Lady's birthday one night early. Instead, we witnessed a scary moment for one little girl and her family. So we skipped out early and missed the end of the 8-1 loss.

I planned to clean the house top to bottom today. But after that excitement I did not get to sleep until after 4 this morning. SO the house was a complete disaster for The Boss Lady when she walked in from work. Happy Friggin' Birthday, baby.

We went out for dinner tonight and the kids and I gave her some 8X10 photo enlargements from our Disney trip for her office.

I don't know what other stay at home parents do for spouse birthday presents, but it is always hard for me to find something for The Boss Lady on the cheap. I mean really. She is just paying for her own present anyways, so she might as well save us all some hassle and pick up something nice on one of her long lunch hour shopping sprees.

Learn CPR. You might save your daughter's life.

I am taking a quick break from the usual silliness and whining that inhabits my blog. Also, this is going up on all the blogs. Sorry for the repition, but it is the only important thing I've had to say in a long time.

Tonight we went to our first AAA minor league baseball game of the season. We were having a great time, hanging out on the left field berm. The kids were going crazy. And they cheered when an 8 or 10 year old girl near us caught a foul ball that the left fielder flipped up to the crowd.

Less than 5 minutes later that girl was unconscious and not breathing. We have no idea what happened. EMTs made it around pretty quickly. But not before the girl's dad had to start rescue breathing. She was out for several looooong minutes. Not just passed out from excitement, mind you. This was blue all over, motionless on the ground not breathing.

How scary is that? Your kid is having a great time and then a couple of minutes later she stops breathing.

When we left the park the girl was sitting upright with loads of attention coming at her from the Fire Fighters and Paramedics that had responded. Looks like she was lucky, She has a hero for a dad. Here's hoping I never have to be my daughter's breath.

So anyways, here is a quick online CPR reference. Please review it in case it has been a while since you took a class. Then please, please, PLEASE take a class to get more familiar with CPR procedures. Go here or go here to get help finding a class in your area. I'll be looking for a refresher course in the morning.

Wake me when winter ends

OK, it is official. I am sick of cold weather.

Not that I have ever been a big fan. But dang, enough is enough. It is 45 degrees and raining again today. Another day stuck inside. Bah.

Yesterday we had some friends over for about an hour. Plus we ran to Costco and we hit Chuck E. Cheese pizza. All to avoid the weather. Today we will likely hit the mall and the YMCA.

We could pull out the power tools and see what happens out in the garage. Or we might just sit around and watch TV. Thank god for having 5 channels dedicated to kid's programming.

So now I am wondering what do you guys do when you have to deal with REAL winter? How do you keep your kids busy days on end when you are stuck inside?

She couldn't make it without me

The Boss Lady is a menace on society. And she is lucky that I am around to keep her out of trouble.

We swapped cars this morning, so that she could more easily deliver some stuff to her office. Plus one of her tires loses air every time the temperature changes and I wanted to make sure it was OK after sitting all weekend through the hot/cold/freezing/cool temperatures that we saw. It was no big deal since the kids and I were only hanging out at Chuck E.'s this morning.

It was really odd that I noticed 4 or 5 police officer patrolling traffic this morning. We hardly ever see any out here. I guess they were stalking us because as I was walking out of the pizza joint I noticed that The Boss Lady's car was 4 months overdue on the state safety/emissions inspection. So we detoured by the neighborhood shop to get that taken care of. Luckily we got there BEFORE a police officer saw us in our overdue-mobile.

We were doubly lucky that they don't charge a fine for being past due. Nor do they back date the new sticker. She effectively gets a few free months every year this way.

So if you are a brazen scofflaw like The Boss Lady you just drive on the annual sticker as long as you can. Eventually your hubs will give up on dodging the fuzz and he will get the safety inspection taken care of. And if your super stud husband is a stay at home dad, you'll be paying for it.

In more ways than one.

Busy Easter Weekend

The Boss Lady was off of work on Friday. So she and the kids spent all day playing and doing stuff that I hid from. Instead I spent the day in the yard, and catching up on old projects.

After I finally finished a drawer repair for Other Dad that I started, and then forgot, about 6 months ago, I stalked every bit of crab grass I could find in my yard and proceeded to execute it as painfully as possible. No weed killers here. I just pulled 'em up by the roots and threw them out in the street. There they whither and die as a warning to their comrades who remain.

I spent several hours helping a neighbor out in his yard, too. He brought in a huge mulcher and was grinding up lots of trash trees he had removed from his yard. No way was I going to miss the destruction that a mulcher that big could do. I must have been good at loading the machine since I still have all my fingers and we pretty well cleared the yard of downed trees.

After working with the neighbor I spent a while trying to aerate my front yard. I did not want to rent the right tool, so I used a garden fork and just kept jamming it into the grass. I was going to do the whole yard, but I wore out and only got the parts of my yard that needed it the most. After putting a million holes ion my yard, my shoulders were screaming. I was going to fertilize but it rained before I could get it spread out.

We finished off Friday with a quick trip to the YMCA and I sat in the hot tub for the entire time we were there. Who needs a workout when there is yard work to be done?

Saturday I was determined to let The Boss Lady sleep late. But at 7:16 she was awake and moving. So I did the responsible thing. I went back to bed while the blankets were still warm. I am sure some other stuff happened Saturday, but that was surely the highpoint of the day.

Sunday we went to church. Usually the kids go to their own classes and we go to service, but we heard there were no Sunday School classes yesterday. So the kids went to service with us. They behaved better than any other kids in the place. Which means that they were the ONLY kids in the sanctuary! As we were leaving we noticed that all of the kids classes were still going, the church had just cancelled the adult classes!?!? Whatever. The kids actually did very well during the service.

We came home and ate like kings, thanks to The Boss Lady cooking a great meal while I helped out by napping on the couch. Hey, I stayed out of her way. That is help, right? Afterwards the kids hunted Easter eggs in the front yard because it was too dang cold for this bunny to hide them before church.

After naps we headed down to the neighbor's house for an egg hunt with several families. Law Talking Guy and I spent about 10 minute hiding eggs, the kids spent about ten seconds finding them. But it was cold and the kids had started eating all of the candy, so we did not hide them a second time.

We got back home and I got the truck ready for a ride that I have promised The Talker all weekend. Uncle Lemon and crew were coming over for dinner, so we would have plenty of time for rides for everyone. Once they got here we skipped a third egg hunt and we played with 4 dozen cascarones, or at least the ones that the dog did not try to eat. The Talker was the smartest of all, he wore his batting helmet so no eggs would hurt his head. Unlike years past, everyone escaped with their teeth intact. By the time we finished playing, it was too cold for a truck ride. We skipped that fun and everyone crashed from all the fun we packed into a three day weekend.

Since it is cold again today the kids and I are off to Chuck E. Cheese's pizza this morning. And I suspect that The Boss Lady is glad to get some rest at work today.

We are fresh out of toddlers around here

Today is The Princess' third birthday.

She is has been in charge of planning all of our playtime for the day. This morning it was the children's museum and riding city buses downtown. Big fun for the AtHomeTrio. This evening we are off to the YMCA for some swimming and family fun.

Yesterday The Queen Mother and Dad stopped by to drop off a mattress for The Princess' big girl bed. As quick as I could, I rearranged her bedroom and removed her toddler bed. Now she has The Boss Lady's Grandfather's bed. More recently it was The Talker's bed until he got bunk beds last year.

Like a well oiled machine, UPS showed up as I was finishing the bet set-up. The Mother of the Bride sent a new set of Tinkerbell sheets and a comforter for the big girl bed. The first time The Princess even saw her big bed it was fully dressed in Tinkerbell pink and purple.

A couple of things came up while I was setting up the new bed to remind me that The Princess isn't a baby any more. For one, the rocker/glider that each of the kids has been rocked to sleep in since birth no longer fits into her little room. With her play kitchen, the bigger bed and her dresser, there isn't enough floorspace for the chair in her room, too. At least not if we want her to have any play space in there. So the chair is now sleeping in our room, where I imagine it will just end up covered in dirty clothes and cat hair.

Also, it seems a little odd in our house to not have a little toddler bed around. The toddler bed has been around since The Talker was about 15 month old. He was trying to climb out of his crib, so we found this bed for him. I literally mean we found it. We were on the way to church and saw it sitting in a trash pile. I snatched it up and detoured back by the house before we made it to church.

After a lot of sanding and painting, that little bed held up well. But now it is into a twin bed for the baby girl. But even still, no matter how big her bed is, she is always going to be my baby girl.

Wikipedia Birthday

Ginger, over at Stuck on Survive, tagged me to complete the Wikipedia Birthday Meme. And I don't want to put it off or I'll forget about it. (Which reminds me, I have another book to read and review. I wanted to get it done on vacation, but this far I haven't even read the title page...) So here goes.

1. Go to Wikipedia and type in your birthday, month and day only.

July 21

2. List 3 events that occurred on that day.

1925 - Scopes Trial: In Dayton, Tennessee, high school biology teacher John T. Scopes is found guilty of teaching evolution in class and fined $100.

1865 - In the market square of Springfield, Missouri, Wild Bill Hickok shoots Dave Tutt dead in what is regarded as the first true western showdown.

1931 - CBS's New York City station begins broadcasting the first regular seven days a week television schedule in the U. S.

3. List 3 important birthdays.

1899 - Ernest Hemingway, American writer
1911 - Marshall McLuhan, Canadian author
1968 - Brandi Chastain, American soccer player

4. List 1 death. 1870 - Josef Strauss, Austrian composer

5. List a holiday or observance. Guam: Liberation Day (1944)

So, there you have it. The day that unleashed me on the world. How in the heck didn't that make Wikipedia?

And just for the record, I have stayed away from Wikipedia all of these years because I can really see that I could waste a huge amount of time over there. I loves me some trivia. So if I start neglecting the family and starve to death while looking up useless knowledge, blame it on Ginger.

These are a few of my favorite things...

libraries that think mommies change all the diapers, cable television companies that take three months to complete a work order and a severe lack of Dr Pepper in my system.

We are going for the trifecta this morning. To start, I now have made a full week and 1 day Dr Pepper free. If the pounds will now please leave, we will all be happier. And I can quit saying things like "I would stab someone in the right eye for a Dr Pepper, right now." Which was the bulk of our familial conversation yesterday afternoon.

The cable company stopped by to finish the job they started on February 7. You can read more about that over on my bitch and whine post on ADHDaddy. What a huge surprise that they could not finish the job today. They sent a guy with a pickup truck and a shovel.

Turns out they need a crew of guys, several trucks and some tool that might keep them from tearing up my yard. Instead of letting the guy dig an 80 foot trench through my back yard, they should be able to pull the new cable through a conduit that is already in the ground. At least the guy they sent today was nice. That kept me from wanting to kick his ass. Hopefully we will wait another month, but they won't have to dig up my yard.

Now we are off to check out the new library. And woe be unto any librarian in my path if there be no diaper changing station in the men's room. The Princess is stinky and we are saving it for the front desk. You can read more about that over here, from a couple of weeks ago.

Edit: 2 hours later

We just got back from the library. It is a nice space. The new children's librarian is awesome. The kids had a great time.

And because I know you are concerned for the health and well-being of all the dads out here, YES, they did install a diaper deck. I suspect we were the first to use it, too, since there were a couple of tools laying inside of it when I unfolded it. A four and a half year battle ends with a victory. Life is good.

Even if that damn cable is still laying in my grass.

After the rain

It rained almost everyday last week. The weather man said it would not rain that much. It was forecast to rain all weekend, but it has been gorgeous around here since Friday.

I really ought to be out mowing my yard, but I think I'll let it ride until Monday. maybe it will rain some more and I can get another few days out of my procrastination.

Thanks to the rain, The Boss Lady and I are starting to enjoy our veggie garden. Today for lunch we had nice green salads that were completely home grown. Usually we add the greens from our garden to other salad items from the grocery store.

After church I was out in the garden trying to decide if I could squeeze in another few plants. With the onions, carrots, potatoes, watermelons, tomatoes, green beans, snow peas, leaf lettuce, greens, peppers and herbs we are are growing, I think there is no room left.

This afternoon The Talker had several friends over to play. Our six year old neighbor seems to have a knack for ringing the doorbell right as I doze off on the couch.

So here I am, the family has left for church, I missed most of the NASCAR race and my nap got cancelled by a 6 year-old doorbell Jedi master. I could/should get out and mow my yard tonight. Instead I think I'll try to catch up on that nap I missed out on earlier.