Just today I have gotten calls from 2 city council members, the Lieutenant Governor of Texas, one Democratic presidential candidate and one Republican presidential contender.
You would think with connections like this I could get my television and internet services changed over to a new provider with no real hassles, right?
Maybe I should have voted for some of those people...
Every Spring, before I get too far into the veggie garden, I try to plan out where things grow. Yesterday The Talker and I came up with a pretty good plan for our garden.
The kid's garden area is outside of the garden fence, so that The Talker and The Princess can dig whenever they see fit. Most years this leads to The Big White Dog digging up the rest of their garden, thus the fence around the main veggie plot.
Since there is not a lot out there for a meat-a-tarian like me to eat, I am doubling size of the potato plot. Also, we thought about leaving out the watermelons this year. I used to grow lots of them, but we haven't seen many good ones in the last few years.
It looks like the kids and I are going to have a lot packed into our little 25x15 garden plot. Every year I think about expanding it, but since there are still green beans in the freezer from last season, I think this is the perfect size for us.
Now if I was eating anything that came out of there, we might need 500 sq feet of garden plot. Just one of the may sacrifices I make for my family.
I got an email a little while ago about our funky tree. I found the timing of this email interesting, since I had just noticed the first purple blooms on our Mountain Laurel trees a few minutes earlier, on my way out to the mailbox.
After that email I decided to grab the camera and snap a few pictures of our yard and garden as everything is starting to come back to life.
The last of our daffodils
This little tree is the result of propagation of seeds from the seed pods of the white-blooming funky tree. It will take another few seasons to see if it blooms white or purple.JB, my college roommate, and I took a road trip this weekend to go fishing down at Pop's fishing cabin on the Gulf coast. Other than some piss-poor navigation on my part that added 45 minutes or so to the drive down there on Friday night, we had a heck of a good time.
According to Pops, stingrays move into the bay just before the flounder start coming in. And if there is anything to that, and you like flounder, then get down there and start fishing. I have only caught one stingray at Pop's place before this trip. Saturday I caught three or four 'rays.
At Pop's pier we reeled in a couple of small flounder, a few black drum and a couple of red drum while we were fishing in the bay. We also caught a couple of hardhead catfish on the sail line. After a late lunch, JB, Pops and I went fishing in town. We hit a ton of small fish there, including piggy perch, sand trout along with more of the same species we had caught earlier across the bay.
After 6 or 7 hours of fishing we had landed several dozen fish, but we never even got a peek at one that was large enough to keep. Which is OK, too. That just meant we did not have to clean a bunch of fish when we were done.
How can the three smallest rooms in the rouse take the longest to clean?
I just spent well over an hour cleaning a bathroom. That I can't even stretch my arms across without hitting a sink or a towel rack. Are we really the dirtiest people in the history of our neighborhood? I am starting to think that we might be.
Granted, the bathroom has not gotten a good scrub down in a while, but dang.
And our kitchen. That itty-bitty space where dinner comes from. No, NOT SONIC, smartass... How can a room that small get such a coating of gunk all over it? Do we just eat way more grease-soaked foods than anyone else, or what? Besides, what is this film of ooze all over everything?
In answer to the ooze question? I quit thinking about it. And used bleach. Lots and lots of bleach.
After all of that effort, our kitchen and bathrooms are sparkling clean. Of course, you need a gas mask to go in any of those rooms. The bleach fumes are pretty gnarly right now.
But I bet the place would photograph well for a real-estate sales flyer. 'Cause you can't smell the bleach on those.
ALL FOUR of us are going back to school in the morning. The Boss Lady will head in at her normal time. The Princess and I will drive The Talker to kindergarten at the usual time. And then she and I will hang out at home for an hour or so before we head off for our school day. And we are all doing it on the same day!
We have only done this a couple of times since January. So we may end up running late at some point. But just to be safe I double checked a few alarm clocks and I have an attack plan in place for all of the meds that must be distributed before anyone leaves the house.
Wish us luck. It's probably going to be a long week.
At least for the rest of these poor suckers... I am leaving town on Friday to go fishing for the weekend. So I'll be playing hooky from work once more, later this week. The rest of these guys are going to have to cough up a lung or something worse to get to miss a day of school from now until Spring Break,which is now only 15 school days away.
I heard The Princess calling the neighbor's new dog a few minutes ago, which means she is usually climbing on the fence to sneak a peek at the puppy. When I looked out in the backyard, I saw her hanging on the fence and the crape myrtle tree.
When I noticed her climbing shoes, I had to run for the camera. Those high heeled plastic princess shoes sure do get a lot of wear.
The Talker finally went to school today. He missed 3 days this week, but I think the boy willed himself well so that he would not miss the class Valentine's Day party.
Monday The Boss Lady stayed home with the boy. Tuesday, she came home after a half day. The Princess and I were both sick yesterday. So our house was not a lot of fun. Unless you REALLY like the Cinderella DVD. Then life is a party, 'cause that thing has pretty much spun non-stop since Monday.
By yesterday afternoon I was starting to feel better, but The Princess was feeling worse. After 6 hours in the Pediatric ER last night, the girls made it back home by 1 a.m. The Boss Lady had to haul the girl up there solo, since there was no use in me spreading my germs to the kids in the waiting room. Plus this way The Talker got to sleep a full night's worth last night.
Got to be ready for that big Valentine's Day party, don'tcha know?
Where is Corporal Klinger? My bedpan is full and I need to barf some more.
Yep, that is how much fun we are having here. OK, technically, I am still not sick. The Talker is on his 3rd day of a cold, the flu, a viral thingy. Whatever he wants to call it. All I know is that his doc's office doesn't want him there, getting the rest of the sick kids a little sicker. So we are hanging out at home again today.
Just not in the same room as The Talker. No way am I going in there without a Level 6 Haz-Mat suit and a bucket o' bleach water.
KB and his kids were supposed to stop by this week for a little fun in Austin. For some reason I think they were thinking of fun stuff like a park, the zoo or a children's museum visit. Not sitting around waiting for the boy to spew. So I guess we will miss their visit while they are in town. Their loss.
This is the Home Depot that has been torn down to make my wife exceedingly happy.
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The Boss Lady now knows that her personal Target store is scheduled to open October 12.
That tax rebate can't get here soon enough.
A few months ago our neighborhood Home Depot store closed up and moved to a new building another couple of miles from our house. the Boss Lady and I really hate seeing those empty big stores sitting after a relocation, so a while back we made a couple of decisions.
First, we try not to get in the habit of shopping at the newly relocated stores if the old was working fine for our family. Especially if the old store was more convenient than the new. Which is true of this particular Home Depot move.
Full disclosure time: Rule 1 has fallen by the wayside when our closest Target store moved further away and into a bigger store. We shop at the new store. A lot. But we feel bad about it. A little.
Second, we try to make it a habit to support stores that eventually move into the abandoned big box stores. Which worked great when our favorite grocery store took over an abandoned building a few months back. We want them to stay-put, so we shop there almost exclusively.
Anyways, we drive past the old Home Depot site occasionally and were curious when they tore the building down a month ago. Usually the different retailer throws on a new coat of paint, hangs a new sign and opens for bidness. A complete tear-down of the store is getting serious.
Today we passed by and The Boss Lady's Target Store Radar kicked into high gear. She spotted a single red banner on the construction fence that evidently announces a new Target store will be opening soon on the old Home Depot site. I thought she was going to cry.
Now this woman just laughed at me when I proposed to her a hundred years ago. She laughed at me when out children were born. She laughed throughout our wedding. Not necessarily in that order... But tear down a Home Depot and replace it with a Target store and here come the tears.
As we were running our errands this morning I kept hearing her mumble something about "pretty and red... right in my neighborhood... it's gonna be great..." Which is odd, since that is exactly the thing she kept muttering all though our wedding.
Addendum 1 (added at 11:40 am)- The Boss Lady just said to me, "Honey, the only reason I haven't slapped you in the face this morning, is because I am filled with the joy of a new Target within 4 miles of my house..."
See. I told you this woman is serious about shopping at Target. And all I did was tell her to get in there and cook my lunch.
Addenda 2 and 3 (added at 11:50 AM)- Stuff I recently heard coming from our kitchen. Where my wife does not seem to be cooking my lunch. " You know, your crap is soooo much easier to take, now that there is about to be a Target nearby. " And "You should get a job at the new Target. They give decent discounts and have good insurance available for 20 hour employees. Plus, I'll be spending more over there since we will save money on gas driving to the Target further out."
I am a lot worried. It sorta sounds like this lady has done her homework.
The Princess told me this morning that it was about to snow. So she wanted to wear her biggest, thickest coat to school. Yes, I gave in...
But for some reason, my front yard still doesn't look like Father of Five's backyard.
And just to twist the knife a little - 82 degrees and not a cloud in the sky today. Where my shorts?
I am sure someone went to work or school barefooted this morning. Because I just made a pass through the house, picking up stray shoes and returning them to their rightful storage places.
While I was stowing the shoes I counted 8 pairs, including 4 pair of Crocs, two pair of plastic princess shoes, three single shoes with no mate and one unmatched pair of cowboy boots. If I was willing to look harder, I could probably round up another two or three pair of shoes from the yard and garage.
I won't even tell you how many pairs of underwear I picked up in the hallway and kitchen this morning. Or WHY there were three different sizes of underwear under the dining table...
Since the first of the school year I have worked a few hours a week at The Princess' pre-school. It certainly doesn't pay the bills, but it gets us out of the house. Most importantly, those hours of work occupy the time that I would otherwise be sans children. And the math works out something like this:
ME, with free time - The Children = Expensive for The Boss Lady
or the corollary:
Child1+School+(Child2+School)+(Me-Work)=Bankrupt Wife
During my work days, about half of the time I end up working in a classroom, substituting for a regular classroom teacher. The rest of the time I am supposed to be planning and running "Outdoor Programs". Yeah, I don't really know what that means either...
Sometimes I plan gardening or nature study activities. Once in a while I let the kids pound nails into old tree stumps. Occasionally we saw big pieces of wood into little pieces of wood with real hand saws. No power tools here. Do YOU want a 4 year old running around the playground with a cordless reciprocating saw? Yeah, neither do I.
Anyways, I think I found a new favorite activity for the kiddos today. And I think all of my effort to find interesting activities for the kids has been wasted. We have a couple of those battery powered bubble machines around the school, so I set one of the bubble machines up on a second story walkway that cuts through the playground. We had gazillions of bubbles everywhere.
At one point I counted 41 kids on the playground. 35 of them were either chasing bubbles or working on the nature study project I had planned. The rest were playing on some of the almost $75K in playscape equipment that the school recently bought.
Yep 6 kids occupied by a massive playground. 30 or more entertained by a $12 bubble blower and a gallon of bubble soap that cost somewhere near a buck. I am fairly sure the bubble children went home a lot more tired than the playground kids. And getting the kids tired enough that they take an afternoon nap is what pre-school really is about, right? Oh admit it. That education thing will work itself out in Kindergarten...
After seeing that today, my current advice is this: If your kid's school wants to upgrade the playground. Slip 'em a twenty dollar bill and tell the PTA to buy a bubble blower and keep the change for extra batteries.
It isn't officially Spring. But it WAS hot enough today that we turned on the air conditioner. Therefore, I am betting that winter is mostly over here in Austin.
I spent most of the afternoon out in the front yard, building new flowerbeds. We try to get rid of a little bit more of our water hogging St. Augustine lawn grass every year. So today I started laying out a couple of new flower beds in the front yard.
Since the neighborhood deer will eat almost anything we plant out front, there might not be any actual flowers added to the beds. I will be moving some flowering lantana bushes and herbs that the deer won't eat, from other parts of the yard.
At the end of this project our front yard will hopefully be a little more water friendly and easier to mow, since I am reshaping one bed that has always been difficult to mow around.
One other major goal of this undertaking is keeping it cheap. I am hopeful that I will be able to move plants around in our yard, so that we won't need to buy a bunch of new plants.
Pictures of the low budget flower bed project will follow.
For the past month or so I have been toting one of my cousins to her driver's education classes. It has been a pretty good deal all around. She gets someone to haul her across town and The Princess gets someone to play with while we are waiting around for her lessons. Me? I hide from my child while the cousin is around, since there is someone else around to keep the 3 1/2 year old busy. Or I vacuum.
Always exciting, right?
So one of the side effects of hauling the cousin to driving classes, I seem to get paranoid about doing things correctly while the cousin is in the car. Need to be a good role model, right?
And let me tell you what, she learned EXACTLY how to behave while I was getting a speeding ticket today. I was a perfect example of saying things like "Yes sir." and "Thank you." And I think I even threw in a "Have a nice day and stay safe" at the end.
Yep, gotta teach the kid ALL there is to know about driving, right? Next week maybe I'll teach her about traffic court and how to cry in front of the judge.
Or maybe I'll just show her how to watch the #($^*&@ speedometer.
Just FYI, Because I have a commercial driver's license, I can't take defensive driving so 10 over the speed limit in Austin is good for $167. At least he didn't write me up for the full 21 over. That would have set The Boss Lady back $253.
Poor Gil. He got barfed on, real good. But as I remember Steve Martin's role in the movie Parenthood, he only got puked on in one scene.
The Princess of Puke and I now working on a barf movie of our own. She has barfed in no less than 4 places today. My car and the Chick-Fil-A parking lot seemed to have gotten the worst of it. And the costume changes would astound you. We have puked on enough clothes to clog the washing machine. Twice.
Yes, WE. See, I have this unfortunate response to barf. It makes me puke right along with the barfer. So now, we are wretching up a duet.
Wanna come over and make it a trio?
It's Monday. Again.
The Princess is staying home from school today, to nurse an ear infection. The Boss Lass is staying home with the girl. I don't think she is feeling very good, either. By 7:45 they were curled up on our big bed, watching Cinderella.
So that leaves me to go to work. On a foggy morning. Yuck.
Move over guys. I want to stay home and watch movies, too.
My kids watch more TV than I would like. They probably watch more than some of their friends, but not as much as others. But they aren't so crazy about TV that they cannot function without it. Or BECAUSE OF it.
Yesterday we were waiting in a Dentist's office waiting room. And this place was decked out for the kids. There was an XBox and a touch screen computer for the youngest patients. High on the wall they had a flat screen TV that was hooked to the office computers, so that they could use iTunes to run the movies. It was a pretty slick setup.
My kids played with the computers and basically ignored the movie. I was impressed by the size of that screen hanging on the wall and caught myself dreaming of a TV that big in my living room.
Anyways, I had to laugh at some other kids in the waiting room, when the mom had to ask for the TV to be turned off, so that she could get her kid's attention. The mom called each of their names at least a dozen times, but they gave absolutely no response. Not even a blink. It was a little creepy.
One of the girls even held her gaze on the TV at least three or four seconds AFTER it was turned off. And I think she glanced back at it as she was walking back to the exam room.
Anyways, the mom announced that "We don't have TV in our house. So they just get a little excited."
Whatever. As of this morning, I am calling that mom out. She is a liar and her kids are just TV junkies. Oh, she might be telling basic truth. I haven't seen their house. But guess who was throwing a fit in the school parking lot this morning because the dual monitor DVD system in the Honda Odyssey was about to be turned off.
You got it the very same kids. Both kids wailing in the school parking lot. Because of TVs that they don't have. And all through the dual-fit? The movie played on...
It was cool. And I laughed out loud. No TV indeed.
See, The Talker and The Princess watched a show this morning. And we left for school when it was over. The only tears shed came when they raced to turn OFF the TV and The Princess slipped on the tile floor.
AND we made it to school on time. So take that, No TV Momma.
this weekend, while The Boss Lady was gone.
"Daddy, is #@(*& a bad word?"
"Daddy, why did you say #@(*& when you hit your foot on the chair?"
"Daddy, I don't wanna eat another grilled cheese sammich"
"Daddy, why do you make grilled cheese sammiches the wrong way?"
"Daddy, why are you too tired to read?"
"Daddy, the dog is eating your dinner!"
"Daddy, why did you say #@(*& to the dog?"
"Boom Chicka Wow Wow..." Repeated a thousand times a day
"Who ate all the Cheetos? Daddy, did you eat the Cheetos?""
"I don't want lunch, Daddy. I want Cheetos!"
"Why, Daddy? I had Cheetos for breakfast?"
And the cherry on top of our weekend? The Princess dropped this last one on me while we were standing in hallway at church on Sunday night.
"Daddy, is Mommy dead?"
To which I replied succinctly,
"Huh? Wha? Uh? Ummm... NO!She is in Florida."
The Boss Lady will be home in a few hours. If you take one look around here it is obvious that our long weekend is coming to an end. The boy has been playing Star Wars on the PlayStation since breakfast. After this, he may turn into a jedi.
The girl has watched a Barbie movie at least three times since lunch. Let's pray she doesn't turn our to be a Barbie... And I am just about to hit the bottom of my jug of Dr Pepper. But would it be so bad if I actually mutated into a 3 liter of Dr Pepper?
So we are taking the easy way out for dinner, Chick-Fil-A, here we come.
Not to say this weekend has been a total waste. We did manage to paint the girl's finger nails and toe nails. WITHOUT spilling the paint on the living room floor. Thank you very much.
The Boy has built every creation possible out of his Legos. And I managed to keep from stepping on any Legos. We also fit in a trip or two to the YMCA indoor pool. And this will be the first time we have eaten out all weekend. We did not even make a single trip to the catfish place with the doting grandma waitresses...
All in all, I would say that meets the standard for a very successful 3 and a 1/2 day weekend.
Now where is that #(!%*$&) plane?
The Boss Lady is scheduled to be home at 8:30 tonight. Yeah for that.
Boo Hiss for the rain outside. Yeah that it isn't raining INSIDE.
So there I was, walking through the living room, talking on the phone to my mom, and carrying a laundry basket full of clean clothes.
And much like back in November, I slammed my toe into a chair. Pretty sure this one is broken, too.
I swear we are buying some of that European cardboard furniture and getting rid of this heavy antique stuff we have all over the dang place. Family heirlooms? More like antique torture devices. Anyone up for some sewing table water-boarding?
I can see myself watching TV in this. I really can.I hope The Boss Lady will leave behind a few things.
A maid - Keeping this dump running on the weekends seems to be a lot harder when working solo
A washer woman - Especially someone who specializes in folding and stashing the clothes
A CPA - It would be really easy to entertain the kids all weekend. If we were going to break the Bank
A sugar-momma - Evidently we already broke the bank
A bartender - It's almost bed time for the kiddies, and daddy needs some quiet time. Some nice, smooth, aged 7 years, in a white oak barrel type of quiet time. On the rocks.
49 hours to go. The laundry is washed, folded and stowed neatly in the drawers. The kitchen is clean enough for us to eat out of, and no one has gotten lost or run away.
So far, so good.
The Boss has been gone for 18 hours or so. We have another 72 hours to go.
The kids made it to bed on time AND it think they both brushed their teeth. Everything else, like cleaning, laundry and proper diet, is getting a pass this weekend.
Of course I am not skimping on the true necessities, like watching Strange Brew, and Napoleon Dynamite, though.
The Boss Lady left to hop on a jet plane for Jacksonville, Florida about four hours ago. She is there for a 3 1/2 day conference. Big fun, I am sure.
The only problem, that leaves the kids and I home alone BY OURSELVES for four days and three nights. As long as we don't run out of donuts or electricity for the PlayStation2, everything should be fine.
A little nice weather would help too, but it looks like rain and cold will keep us from any outside playtime this weekend.
Wish us luck and if you see The Boss Lady, please beg her not to sell her return ticket.
that this truck has been driven by AtHomeDaddy. I bet that would have brought in a ton of bids.
Rick is making a push to sell his 1925 Chevrolet truck.
And as much as I think it would look FANTASTIC sitting in my garage, I would not want the rat that lives in my engine to eat it. So one of you go buy it and I'll drive it for you, too.
I hit the YMCA fitness center this afternoon for the first time since goodness knows when. Good thing we have been paying that membership fee every month for the past couple of years.
At this rate I figure today's time on the treadmill cost us like $748.34 per mile. I guess I'll go back in another 18 months or so, just so to make sure we are getting our money's worth.
This week is already setting a new record on the suck-o-meter. A funeral on Monday is no way to start a week. Then there is the impending doom that is a 4 day business trip for The Boss Lady starting on Friday.
Those two things make a pretty nice pair of bookends for all of the crap that seems to be going on the next couple of days.
Yesterday The Princess and I never left the house. Today, thanks to a nice raging migraine, we would repeat that excitement. Except I am scheduled to work and I have already missed a bunch of days. So I'll suck it up drag my carcass to work. Besides, then I have a LIVE audience to whine to!
Added to the fun, It it is raining. Which means that I get to play INSIDE with 6 classes of kids. I just want to barf thinking of the noise to come...
It has been a long week. Good thing it is almost Friday!
Tonight our house is empty except for the AtHomeFoursome. The kids are asleep and life will start getting back to normal in the morning.
The funeral was fitting and nice. It was good to see the whole family again and it was fun to swarm on that poor little cafeteria afterwards. 40 or so relatives all breaking bread and swapping stories at Maw Maw's favorite hangout.
No matter what you hear, we DID NOT get kicked out of the funeral home for being too boisterous and laughing too much last night. But it was close. Heck, I did not even know that they kept a bullhorn at the funeral home...
Believe me when I tell you that Maw Maw would have been OK with us having a good time and telling a few stories on her behalf.
Oh, there were lots of tears shed, too. But it just seems that around my family a good story will always trump a tear in the eye.
The first words out of the newly turned 6 year old this morning shall live forever in family legend.
The car is back home, the suit is back home and I am sick of crap breaking and/or not working as it should. And don't even get me started on the rat that they think is eating all of the wiring in my car...
Yep, it's been that kind of week. Rats living in the engine. So I am going to sit in the blue chair and drink Dr Pepper until someone serves me some birthday cake.
Trying not to lose The Talker in all of this chaos, his 6th birthday is on Sunday. A big bonus of this crazy weekend, he is going to have a birthday party with cousins, aunts, uncles and his own Maw Maw and Paw Paw.
Somewhere in all of the excitement and anticipation, The Talker completely forgot about the Chuck E. Cheese birthday party he has been begging about. For a year.
Getting to skip a Chuck E. Cheese party. There is one thing that has gone right in a row. Looks like I am on a roll, now, baby!
Did I tell you the one about the guys who quit working at the cable company and went to work in the repair shop at our nearby Saturn dealership?
Except that one well dressed guy, he went to work over at Men's Wearhouse.
Yep, my car is heading back to the shop for round 4 this morning. Terry pretty much called this one.
I picked up my car yesterday. The shop had completed a fairly lengthy re-do list that they had been working on since last Saturday. This time? The wife was cruising town with her mother in law and the AC won't work.
It is January in Texas, so of course we need the AC working. Now we are starting round 4 of what should have been a simple repair. Can you say "better be a nice loaner car"?
Want to know about the well-dressed guy? If not, stop reading and go check out a library book.
In our preparations for Maw Maw's funeral, I realized that I need a new suit. Not needing to wear one often, I only own one. And it fit great, 20 pounds ago.
Last week I walked in to Men's Wearhouse. Looked at 3 or four suits. Picked one. Made arrangements to get it altered in time for the funeral. Picked out shirts and a new tie, too.
Turns out all of that little stuff adds up quickly. Had a little sticker shock at the register. But the deed was done, so I haven't worried about it since then. We were out of there in less than 45 minutes.
I picked up my freshly altered suit last night. I was about to try it on for The Boss Lady, when I realized that the breast pocket on the jacket is torn. So right after I drop of my car for round 4 of re-repairfest, I am headed over to the torn suit store to see what they can do about it.
Somewhere in all of this hassle we have to find time to have a 6th birthday party for The Talker. At least that'll be fun. And I won't need to wear a suit.
Here is to another wild weekend.
This afternoon I ran out of grandparents. Which is not an unusual development when one is almost 38 years old. But, still...
My dad's dad died when I was not yet three years old. And on the exact day that The Boss Lady was born... I have no recollection of him. He was a WWII vet, so he will always be a hero in my book.
My Paw Paw, a farmer, died 15 years ago or so. I still have lots of great memories of him. I also have his old truck. I think of Paw Paw C every time I hop in OUR 68 Chevy. Or when I play in my garden.
My mom's mother died three years ago. I think of her when I count or when I play dominoes or when I read or watch someone use sign language. She was a great teacher.
My dad's mother was in hospice care for past week or so. So it was not a surprise when THAT call came this afternoon. Alzheimer's stole the last decade of her life. But nothing will steal the great memories I got to share with her.
One of the awesome-erest ever things (and there were many...) about Maw Maw was her love and knowledge of this city. Oh, she would hardly recognize the place now. We have had too much growth and development in the past dozen years. But she lived almost her entire life within a few miles in Austin. And she loved this city. And that made me love this city.
I didn't grow up here, but like the bumper sticker says "I got here as fast as I could." I was in Jr High or High School when I told a teacher that I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up, but that I WOULD live in Austin. So it was no surprise when I was 20 and I moved in with my grandma. I brought my couch, my clothes and Siamese cat and Maw Maw provided just about everything else.
The best times of that year were our weekend driving trips through the city, just to see "stuff". I would drive and she would tell me things she knew about each part of town and about people who once lived in each neighborhood. We also toured a lot of cemeteries, so grandma could clue me in to the final resting places of our family.
While cruising the city with Maw Maw I learned every backstreet and shortcut in town. She had this place wired and we weren't about to sit in traffic on the freeway, when a little known side street could get us there quicker. Often the side street might take you out of our way, but right past an interesting site. And that was always good, too.
Maw Maw was spunky. She was happy. And she was fun to be around. I would love to thank her for teaching me everything I love about my town and I'll miss her.
Soon I'll sit and grieve. But tonight I think I'll go take a drive.
It is a good thing I have a loaner car today. The dealership might be a little surprised when they get their less than100 miles on the odometer loaner car back, though.
The Talker went to play at a friend's house this morning. A last free day before school starts back in the morning. I took the chance to beg my way into a Dr's appointment for an allergy shot.
It is cedar allergy season and I will beg, buy, steal or maim someone to get into my Dr for a shot of the good stuff. But I hate going to see my Dr with 2 kids in tow. The waiting room just ain't big enough for the three of us.
The nurse offered me an 11 am visit, so The Princess and I hopped in the loaner car and cruised downtown for a shot in the butt. Then we headed home for lunch. Less than a two hour round trip.
Three hours later I was back on the same street, just 1/2 a block from my Dr's office. To visit the Pediatrician's office. That turned into a 2 and a 1/2 hour round trip, but no kids got shots. And that is all that matters, right?
If I had been in my own car I would have taken a later appointment that my Dr's office had available, just 30 minutes before The Talker's appointment. And I would have dealt with both kids in the waiting room. But with the Saturn dealership paying for today's gas and mileage, it was sure nice to entertain only one kid during my Dr's visit.
I had something really great to blog about. It was profound. Earth-shattering, really.
Then I walked. All. The. Way. To. The. Computer.
Now it is gone.
This moment of insanity brought to you by an excess of Jack Daniels Dr Pepper and a little too much college football in the past week.
You are welcome.
At least I can still type.
I packed up the Christmas tree and most of the inside decorations on Thursday. And since then they have been in the middle of the living room, waiting for a ride to the attic. Which I promised The Boss Lady I would provide once the weekend arrived.
This morning I also planned to get the outside lights and decorations taken down and packed up, so that I would only need to make one trip into the attic. Hopping up on the roof to take down lights is no problem. Packing up the giant Winnie the Pooh and Tigger scene is no problem. Likewise, tackling the giant polar bear inflatable is no hassle.
The only trouble was getting TO the attic. Seems there is a partially disassembled truck in the way. So I spent several hours getting the truck put together enough that I could steer it out of the garage, where it was parked at such an angle that I could not roll it straight out of the garage.
After a few hours of parts installation I had the truck movable, granting access to the attic. It also allowed me enough room to get to my ladder. So I hopped on the roof, yanked the lights down and packed away the rest of the decorations. Three or four loads went up to storage and The Boss Lady helped me push the truck back into the garage. My entire weekend chore list was finished before nap time.
So what did your have to move to get your decorations back into storage?
I think we might have to bar The Princess from any further association with her female cousins. They seem to be a very bad influence on our 3 1/2 year old.
An example: tonight, while standing in the middle of The Disney Store, trying to buy a birthday present (for a girl cousin, ironically enough), The Princess blurts out "But Mommy I need more toys AND accessories..."
So for teaching my child to accessorize, girl cousins are now banished from my kingdom.
Away with you all.
I sometimes post my more whiny and bitch posts over at ADHDaddy. But it has not seen a lot of action in the past few months. At least not until I took my nearly new car in for service the other day. And then it got worse when I went to pick it up. FYI, I went back and edited those posts. The originals might reappear later, after all of this meddis settled.
Todays adventure with my car just takes the cake. I was telling RacecarMan about my car troubles. And I went to show him the repair that I still wasn't very happy with. Then I noticed fluid on the top of the engine and a the pad that hangs under the hood to deaden sound and dissipate heat is completely trashed. Evidently, while repairing my car they let antifreeze leak all over the engine compartment and manifold.
It turns out that if you demand a service manager show up at your house on a Saturday morning, AND the dealership knows that they have already dropped the ball on this deal, you can actually get a house call from a service manager.
50 minutes after I demanded to see the service manager IN MY DRIVEWAY, he pulled up in a loaner Saturn Outlook. (Yep, the same one, just in case you saw the original ADHDaddy posts.)
So now my car is back at the shop, getting a better repair, a complete detail, including the engine bay and a new hood sound deadener/heat pad. Should be back in four or five days and I bet it looks like a million bucks when I see it again. Oh for the love of God, please let them do it right this time...
Just look at what Santa or some other Satan Worshiper has brought upon my house. To be honest, I think there were a few sets of these around before the holidaze.
I never really noticed how freaking small these things are. Anybody got a nano-tech sized shoe horn? Because evidently Belle is having a shoe crisis and she REALLY needs the pink shoes NOW!!!
I don't really see the need for the pink shoes since they sorta clash with the yellow dress that I just installed a few minutes ago. But just to be honest once again, there is a history of male color blindness in my family. There is also a history of our men not giving a crap about what we wear in public. I'll let you decide which of those groups I fit into...
The Boss Lady goes back to work in the morning. She has been home since the Friday before Christmas. And more than anyone, I'll be sad to see her go. It has been a good break and we all like having her around. Plus, it really is nice to let someone else yell at the kids once in a while.
With that said, I am sure she is looking forward to getting back to her office. A private office. With a door. And no Star Wars, Littlest Pet Shops or Legos anywhere in sight. It is very good that she doesn't have a private bathroom in there or she might never come back home.
Who bets that she will barely be able to contain the laughter and glee as she is pulling out of the driveway in the morning?
A few years back I had nice area set up for back yard cookouts. But it most often was used just as a great hangout spot for the dads. One of the neighbor's named it the White Trash Fire Pit, but you'll know that he was ALWAYS here when I lit a fire in the thing.
I am sure he was jealous of my creativity. Or maybe he was cold.
The White Trash Fire Pit met it's end a while back. Since then we have had no backyard bonfires. But last night I ended that streak with a pile of old rotten cedar limbs and a pink washtub.
Why pink? Because it was the only washtub we had. Besides, the fire burned off all the paint, so it isn't pink anymore...
Anyways, I knew the dog would not relax once neighbors started lighting fireworks. The wife and kids had gone to bed earlier, so I decided to celebrate New Years out in the yard, cozying up to The Big White Dog and a flaming pink washtub while we listened to the neighbors try to blow up their yards.
Yep, it was just my kind of party.
As I lay down with The Talker for a few minutes tonight at bed time, he told me that he was having a dream about "Toyota Chevrolet PS2s, but not the Chevy ones. They are too rusty."
I reminded him that he actually should be ASLEEP before he would start dreaming, then I left his room.
Before I finished the 15 foot trek back to the living room sofa, he came out and told me "But now I am having a NIGHTMARE.."
See. I told you nothing good would come of a global economy.
Last week, while The Talker and I were hanging out around the house, I pulled out the Commodore 64. We had a good time with a speech synthesizer program and we used it to prank call grandmas.
Let me tell you, granny hasn't had a good Christmas until she has heard a 25 year old computer telling her "Merry Christmas. You gots a poo poo head.". OK, that might have been funnier if you had been here. OR if you aren't a grandma to my son...
Anywhooo. On Saturday, after the family hike, I pulled out the Commodore 64 again. Bro did not know I had it or that it would still run. We had a heck of a time playing some Dr J vs Larry Bird One on One and some Power Play Hockey: USA vs USSR.
25 years later and Bird still has a killer outside shot!
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Lately, we have been rediscovering the greenbelt that runs through our neighborhood. Before kids, The Boss Lady and I would go back there and explore (read: get as lost as blind snow geese...) with the dogs. When the first kiddo was little enough we loaded him in the baby backpack and hit the trail. For some reason we never made it down there after The Talker became The Walker.
Several years have gone by, but the trail is as nice as ever. Especially the end nearest our house. It is more rugged and less manicured than the more heavily used areas of the park. So therefore it is also less crowded.
Law Talking Guy started taking his kids hiking in the greenbelt this fall. I went with them one Sunday last month when the rest of the family was napping. The next weekend I was hauling the kiddos out there while The Boss Lady snoozed.
Saturday, Bro and I took a herd of cousins out on the trail. We hiked out and back, about a mile, to an area called the Fish Pond. Everyone fell at least once. the kids were all a little muddy. No one fell in the water but everyone had fun. A good hike indeed.
Today, The whole AtHomeFamily did the same death march to the Fish Pond. Several of us fell in the water. We took lots of pictures and in the end all of us were worn out. Good times squared.
Anyways, it was a nice family outing. And I hope that with the new year we remember to visit that great big green space right outside our back door.
Are all in our house again today.
So I figured why not finish the party with a nice full blown migrane.
Good times.
Now let's just see if I make it to the end of the afternoon without thinning out the family...
Back before this AtHomeDaddy gig, I worked as a supervisor at a public recreation center that served children, teens and adults who had physical and/or developmental disabilities. And I was pretty good at it. But after 10 years or so in that line of work, I was tired. Then The Talker came along and we started a new chapter in our book.
This past Friday and Saturday I was tied up with a visitation and funeral for a young woman who attended my programs back when I worked at the recreation center. I still keep in touch with a few of the people over there, and I get emails once in a while from my old boss. It seems that the last few times I have gotten an email from her, it was to notify me of bad things like this. Jokingly, I told her at the cemetery to lose my email address.
The Boss Lady and I chatted a little today about how tough it must be on parents, to have to bury a child. Ironically, we were discussing this on the way to witness my niece's baptism.
The young lady who would have turned 24 years old on the day she was buried. Her mom was handling things with a level of grace that I don't think I could ever achieve if I were in her situation.
Anyways, there is no real point to this entry. Just go hug 'em extra tight if you got 'em.
The Princess and I wrapped up school on Wednesday morning. The Talker finished up at 2:45 today. The Boss Lady was home by 4:45. Let the holidays begin.
Just in time too, the kids were working my last nerve today. So after I got bored with yelling/griping/begging/pleading/crying/wailing and gnashing my teeth in an effort to get them to calm down, we went trolling through the neighborhood, looking for friends. Which is what all parents do, right? Can't control them at home, then send 'em to the neighbors to play.
After playing (nicely) with the neighbors, we headed out to dinner. The heathen children returned right about the time our food hit the table. After we got home I disappeared for a few hours.
I could tell you what I was doing, but then you would know where to find me when I am hiding from my children. And YOU would tell them where I was. So you don't get to know.
They must have behaved once I left. Since the wife did not have them outside in the dark doing finger tip push-ups or jumping jacks. She was actually letting them sleep. Like a good mommy should. I never asked if Benedryl was served with the evening snack.. Because they look so peaceful when they sleep. Almost innocent.
Almost.
I did not forget to pickup the girl. We even made it to the school 5 minutes early. Score 1 for dad.
The Talker was back at school yesterday. Thankfully in Kindergarten he did not have any work to make up.
The Princess and I are off to our last day of school today. Actually it is only a half day. We are done today at 11, instead of 1. Whoever heard of early release at pre-school? Whatever. I get paid to be there, so it isn't all bad.
And today, after work, the girl and I will go to what will surely be the source of many blog-tales for the future, the pre-school staff Christmas party. Yep, Mr. Mike is making an appearance at the staff party along with 25 female staff and 5 or six of their pre-school-aged children, who all happen to be girls. I will be the only dude in the place.
I figure might as well get a little more practice in. Being around that many women will help get me ready for Friday, when The Boss Lady starts her 2 1/2 weeks at home for Christmas Break. It usually takes us more than half of that time to get used to having both of us around the house.
The Talker is home from school. He has a nagging ear infection that just won't quit. So we are headed off to the Dr's office in a hour. On the way over I am dropping the Princess off at her school. I would keep her home today too, and miss the hassles of afternoon pickup. Which I am praying that I DO NOT FORGET. 12:45PM, must leave to get girl. Someone remind me...
Somewhere along the way I should remember that I am already sick, too. I have a cold that has kicked my butt all weekend long. It is possible to die from too much sneezing? I think I shot my cerebral cortex out though my left nostril yesterday.
If you are in the area, and want to be assailed by whatever super-bug has taken hold in our house, stop by. We will surely share our germs with you.
Last night The Boss Lady and I went out to dinner. Without children. And I wore a tie.
Today I feel like crap. Not because we abandoned the children and ate like kings. I really enjoyed that part. But I think I am finally catching the cold that has gone around at The Princess' school.
Big fun since The Boss Lady's family, including cousins and their families are here today. 24 or so people hanging out at our house. All day. Long.
So I am hiding in the back of the house and away while my children terrorize their cousins. But from what I can hear, it seems to be pretty mutual.
The Talker's toy construction set is still the most popular reason that people end up here. A while back a reader started hosting a PDF file of the instruction sheet that is still requested at least weekly. Before Tim hosted the file I bet I emailed out that file 10 times a month or more. Now I don't really know how many people end up finding those instructions.
Still, I get asked once in a while about replacement parts. eBay seems to be the only decent source. The big big big problem seems to be that the toy isn't made anymore. Anyways, since the little marbles are the most frequently lost pieces, I am always looking for suitable replacements. And I haven't really found anything that will work properly.
Until today.
Evidently there is a Thomas Big Loader toy that uses the same marbles. And Tomy still makes it. So the company sent me an order form to purchase replacement marbles for either set (10 marbles for $1.25, shipping included!)
If you need replacements, let me know. I'll email you the MSWord document/order form. Or email the company, they were prompt to get back to me via email.
Rainy and cold and hot and dry then hot and rainy and now again it is getting cold. With changing from heat to AC twice a day, our HVAC system can't seem to keep up. And neither can I. I really want the weather to make up it's mind for a day or two.
Luckily we were dressed completely inappropriately when the girl had her first potty accident in 6 months or more. We were playing at the Austin Children's Museum and before she could react, the deed was done. Her clothes were soaked and we were without a change of clothes. Not even a spare set in the car...
When we left the house the girl was wearing long sleeves and pink cowboy boots along with her thickest, lavender coat. I wore my leather jacket over a couple of T-shirts under a brand new sweater. Gotta love the layered look.
This morning we dressed before we realized it was 75 degrees and 136% humid outside. Once downtown, we ditched our coats at the car, a few blocks from the museum. But I kept the stylish new cable knit sweater. Gotta love the looks you get walking around downtown in 80 degree weather with a sweater and a few other layers on...
Even though I wasn't really prepared for the coming disaster, the museum was. They keep plastic sacks in the restrooms, for such occasions. I'll have you know that my sweater kept my daughter from getting a ticket while streaking through downtown. I wrapped her up in my fabulous new gear and we headed home.
That was enough excitement for one day. Besides, I had to get that sweater in the laundry.
ASAP.
No much to post about this week. I managed to barely keep the kids dressed and fed while playing around with a 4 day long migraine headache. Since Tuesday, all I wanted to do during the daylight hours was sleep. Not real simple with The Princess wanting to play Hi Ho Cherry-o. All. Day. Long.
Anyways, I finally started feeling better this evening. No sense in feeling wimpy for the weekend, right? So hopefully we will be up to some fun and frolic on Saturday, which happens to be the first Saturday in a couple of months without something on the family calendar. And a lazy Saturday around the house should beat any migraine, any day.
For the record, we have been to the new grocery store twice this week. It is really purty and it does not smell like old rotting fish.
now that an HEB grocery store is open in my neighborhood".
I overheard a woman telling her friend that as we were cruising through the new neighborhood grocery store this evening.
Gauging by the fact that the store first opened for business at 6 this morning, and we were there at 7pm, AND the store was clean and the shelves were fully stocked, I think we have a new family grocery store.
No more driving 3 miles to the nearest HEB. Now we are just over a mile to the good stuff.
Other than that, life is good around here. The Princess' school was closed today thanks to a gas leak in the building. Which worked out OK for us, since I had a raging headache and was planning on ditching work anyways this morning. For the record, I did NOT cause the gas leak.
The weather was awesome today. The Princess and I celebrated this afternoon by getting the bike and trailer out for a cruise around the neighborhood with one of our neighbors and his 11 month old. Good times.
Yesterday The Boss Lady came home a couple of hours early. So I jumped on the chance to get the outside Christmas lights strung on the front of the house. Though it is a wimpy display, compared to some of our previous year's decorating, I am declaring the outside now fully decorated.
I usually do this the day after Thanksgiving, but I guess something better came up. Since then I have not wanted to venture into the attic without having The Boss Lady around in case I fall to my death. to hand things back down to. I know she would not want to miss out on the chance to laugh at me breaking my neck. to help out.
While I was climbing around on the roof, The Princess was helping The Boss Lady. They rearranged the living room and set up the Christmas tree. Most of the decorations are now displayed inside. Still, I can't say that we finished getting ready for Christmas until all of the empty boxes are out of the living room. At this rate that might take a few weeks...
because I don't want the secret place to get too crowded...
But thanks to (Almost) New Dad, who lives down the street, we have discovered Dublin Dr Pepper AT A SODA FOUNTAIN. And this magical place is only 5 minutes from the house.
And they had the soda mixed properly, too. And they serve pizza. And ice cream. And they have chocolate syrup for your ice cream. And free muffins. And they have lots of stores in Atlanta.
Heck, they would not even care if you put ice cream on the free muffins. Well, they MIGHT care if you do that in Atlanta...
Anyways, I only know for sure that they serve Dublin Dr Pepper at the Jason's Deli by my house. If anyone sees it at other stores I may be willing to pay a finder's fee.
So tonight is the much discussed and hyped Dallas Cowboys vs Green Bay football game. Too bad that most of Austin can't watch the game, thanks to the standoff between Time Warner Cable and the NFL Network.
Truthfully I don't care that much about NFL football. I'll watch if nothing else is on. And if the Texans or the Cowboys make it to the Super Bowl, then I'll watch. Otherwise, whatever...
But I DO really dislike Time Warner Cable. Thanks to the fact that they kept my yard torn up for months on end. So imagine my delight when I realized last night that our crappy old basic satellite system includes the NFL Network. Evidently we have had the network for a while, I just never cared to check...
So while my neighbors who are served by TW's cable system are cruising to the sports bar to watch the game tonight, I'll be sitting in the big blue chair in my own living room. And I'll probably watching something else.
And I swear I just heard Pablo on the Backyardigans drop some dope internet lingo. The writers adapted the line for the context of the show, where 2 of the Backyardigans were acting as gold prospectors and two others were playing like they were paleontologists.
Back to the line in question... Pablo, just thew down either "All you GOLD are belong to us..." or "All your BONES are belong to us..." in the background of a chaotic scene where the two groups meet up.
I could not tell exactly what he said and without TiVo, I'll just have to sit around for days on end waiting for a replay of that episode. Good thing I don't have a job to get in the way of my quest.
Every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we go to the Chuy's Children Giving to Children Parade. Our kids put a lot of thought into the toys they select for their give away. Anyways, we skipped this year.
True, it WAS only 40 degrees out there, but it was raining, too. Plus, NONE of us are currently sick. And that is a family tradition that I want to continue as long as possible. We watched the parade on TV and we will stop over at Chuy's which just so happens to be our favorite place to eat, including our own kitchen, and drop off our toys.
From the news coverage of the parade it looks like everyone in town took the easy way out,like us. The parade attendance was sparse, therefore the number of collected toys is really low. The crews are gathering toys at locations and events all over town. But now they are worried that they will not have enough toys to meet the needs all over the area. So that is where we come in.
The kids are going to be digging into their piggy banks this afternoon to see what other toys we can give. And I am hoping that if you are around Austin, you'll drop a toy or two in one of the collection bins around town, too.
Not in town? Go find a group collecting toys in your area and have the kiddos give a toy they selected. It makes for a great family tradition.
I should have just slept late this morning. OK, the truth is I still slept later than The Boss Lady by an hour or so, but it wasn't late enough.
As I walked into the living room this morning, I slammed my pinky toe into the the blue chair in the living room. You know, the REALLY old and HEAVY blue chair that I like to sit in while I watch TV? Yep. It caused me pain, after all of the good times the blue chair and I have shared.
Pinky toe, broken.
I am not hassling with a trip to the ER for this. If it is killing me over the weekend, I'll hit up my doc's on Monday. Until then I'll be sitting in the blue chair waiting for it to apologize.
Otherwise, the day was a great success. Family reunion with Dad's fam at lunch and hanging out at our house all afternoon with Mom, Dad, my siblings and their families. We ate. We BSed. We ate. We watched the Cowboys. Then we changed things up and we did a little bit of BSing before we ate again.
Good times.
Edit: Just for the record, my mother never complained about the goatee. I guess It'll have to hang around until Christmas to see if she loves it then...
The Boss Lady and The Princess headed down to Pop's place this morning. They are spending the night and heading home in the morning.
This afternoon, the boy and I cruised the neighborhood and met up with loads of neighbors to play for a couple of hours before dark. One it was too late to play outside, we headed to dinner. I left the location up to him and the boy picked well. We ended up at Texas Roadhouse.
While we were eating, The Talker looked at me and said "Dad, this is cool. Just you and me eating out. I like it." Nothing real profound, but it did make me realize that this is the first time The Talker and I have been out to dinner together, by ourselves since... Well, I am not sure it has ever happened.
But I bet it will happen again.
I stubbed my big toe and I made a pot roast. Turns out that my toe still hurts and I can make one killer pot roast!
Can't talk anymore. Eating leftovers for breakfast.
The Princess wanted to play Hi Ho Cherry-O this morning. But I could not find the rules once got the board all set up. So I googled for the rules and found this site. Someone at Brigham Young really cares a little too much about Hi Ho Cherry-O, methinks.
But I am not complaining, they did have all of the rules listed on a secondary page, AND they have done the same type of analysis on Chutes and Ladders.
So to our neighbors who sent a kid to BYU, I say thanks for supporting higher (and lower) education.
I have read a couple of dad-blogs lately that have been discussing how BORING dad-blogs are. I am not providing links, because I don't really remember where I was when I read it, or how I got there. It wasn't any of my usually-read blogs.
Anyways, if you find the mindless drivel here boring, then OK. That is fine.
One of the biggest reasons that I started blogging about the kids was so that The Mother of the Bride and The Queen Mother could keep up with the daily events in the kid's lives. And I just DARE you to tell the grandma's that their grandkids are boring.
One of those chicks has a bionic knee and she will kick you into next week for talking bad about her favorite grands. The other lady will hit you with her cane for disparaging the two best looking of her brood. I'll leave it up to you to decide which of the grandmas will do the most damage.
Now on with the drivel and drek:
The Talker is out of school today. The Princess has school. So the boy and I will be hanging out at the pre-school today. (A big YEE-HAW for getting paid to hang out with my kids!) It looks like we will be playing with the smallest kids there for a while and then hanging out with Joe McDermott for a school wide concert later in the morning. Big fun today.
Sorry if we bore you.
It is time. I can't avoid it anymore. They are threadbare and the leather is cracking. The soles are shot again and after I wear them, my toes hurt. So I have to retire my cowboy boots.
Some guys wear fancy dress shoes. I wear cowboy boots. Suits, slacks, blue jeans. whatever. I do not own a pair of loafers or wingtips. Instead I have black cowboy boots. And I have worn them for a long time.
I can't even guess how many times these boots have been re-soled. Over the years I am sure that we have spent more on sole repair than we spent on the boots brand new. But I just like them soooooo much.
Besides that, these boots and I have been through a lot of good times together. I bought them to wear when The Boss Lady and I got married a dozen years ago. All that talk about it being the bride's special day was almost overshadowed, because with my black double breasted suit, these boots and I looked GOOD!
A side note, I should have looked good that day. Somewhere along the way we got off track with our wedding spending. we ended up spending more on my suit and boots than on the bride's dress. The suit quit fitting me about 40 pounds ago, and the wedding dress just hangs in the back of the closet. But the boots have stuck with me all these years.
I am not 100% certain, but I bet I was wearing them when we signed the papers to buy our first house. Since we bought in May, I might have been wearing shorts that day. And I usually don't wear the cowboy boots with shorts. That's what my brown boots are for...
I do know that I have worn them at the hospital when each of the children was born. Of course, I wore the same shirt both times, too. And you might not think that black cowboy boots and a shirt plastered with Sugar Daddy candy wrapper logos would match up, but it is a good look for me.
This will most likely be the first year in 13 that I haven't worn my black boots to our Thanksgiving family reunion. That, my friends, is a lot of turkey and dressing lunches, chicken stew dinners and Cowboys football in between.
So after payday, I guess I'll be headed to the cowboy boot store. And maybe another pair of black boots will be coming home to stay for a while, But these old boots are going to stay up on the closet shelf. Because someday the Sugar Daddy shirt, these old boots and I might have to head back to the hospital again.
Or maybe I'll just wear them to Thanksgiving dinner one last time.
What is 3.5 years old, partially blond-headed and banished for life from her arts and crafts project scissors?
Too bad we actually spent $20 on her hair cut less than a month ago...
Last Tuesday I whined on ADHDaddy about our soon to be ex-regular grocery store. Turns out Mondays aren't any better around there. This time I did manage to contain the damage. We only loaded up on the essentials, Q-tips, 'nanners and breakfast cereal. The extra stuff did not find it's way to our basket, so I did not have to make a protest pile today.
But I did stop the store manager on the way out. I told her that we would have to make a stop at another store to really stock up on groceries for this week. I am not willing to fight the piles of empty boxes and stacks of stuff waiting for shelf space that is piled everywhere. I also let her know that this was the second week in a row that this has happened. I guessed that during these 2 trips her store lost out on at least $75 of 'extras' that we would have bought but can live without.
She promised to "look into it". But she also wanted me to know that the stockers were finished up early every day last week, including Tuesday. I did not tell her that I knew differently since one of those guys spent at least 30 minutes putting back all of the crap that I piled in the middle of the canned veggie aisle...
Anyways, a new, closer-to-the-house store is supposed to open in late November or early December. And I am ready for the move, even though I this store has provided lots of entertainment over the years...
An Open Letter to the lady at the grocery store (From Jan, 06)
Fun and Frolic on Aisle 5 (From Aug, 04)
Of course, over the years it hasn't all been roses. There is a reason our prescriptions come from Costco, now (From Aug, 04)
I am thinking about just skipping the whole time change next year. And maybe every year until the kids are grown AND out of my house.
You see, time change sucks. It was dark at like 3 in the afternoon yesterday. The Princess wasn't tired at bedtime, so it was a fall back to the old standard hour ordeal to get her to sleep. Lately we have gotten pre-sleep negotiation time down to 20-25 minutes per night. Or to put it another way, we have been THRILLED to ONLY spend 2 1/2 hours a week putting the sleep monster to bed.
But now the farmers come along and screw up the kid's sleep schedule. To heck with the corn crop, I need this kid to sleep. And I need her to stay asleep once she is there.
This morning The Princess bounds out of bed at 6:11, wanting me to peel an apple, to eat powdered -sugar donuts and to paint with water colors. First of all, we have no donuts. Secondly, do you really want to give a guy like me a knife at 6:12 in the morning? And point C is...
Well, I don't have a point C. If I had gotten to sleep worth a dang, I might be able to bring up point C...
Every year I TRY to grow some good looking facial hair sometime after Halloween. It always ends up looking like ass. So every year I shave it off before Thanksgiving.This year is no exception. The goatee is taking shape.
But maybe this year I'll keep it until New Years, just to annoy mom. I'll see her 3 or 4 more times this year and there are only so many things I can do that really get under her skin... Plus, it is already too cold to shave my head again this year.
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