Category: Fatherhood

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It’s almost a new year. And that ain’t no bull!

chinese calendar I suppose with the pending new year, I should be thinking about how I plan to better myself in the coming months. This is difficult for me, but not because I think I’m perfect; but more because I’m simply not sure where to start. I am aware of at least three areas of my life where significant changes should/could be made, and none of them are easy for me.

For instance, I know I should make more time for the spiritual things in my life, but that’s so BORING!

I know I should try to be more patient with the kids and not fly off the handle when I’m trying to talk to CareerMom and MLI interrupts umpteen times just to tell me that at Daycare today, he and his little friend played with the Hot Wheels cars.

And I know, I know, I know, I should take a more active role in finding time to spend alone with CareerMom outside of the house, but I hate to be the creepy old man calling up teenage girls begging them to come over to my house and babysit. Plus, date nights are expensive!

But 2009 is the year of the OX in the Chinese Calendar, which portends potentially good things for me since, astrologically, I’m a taurus. I think Bulls and Oxen are fairly similar. For instance, in the Chinese Calendar, the Ox has the following characteristics (which I think I also have):

  • dependable
  • innate ability to achieve great things (yeah, that’s me…Mr. Great Things Achiever!)
  • process oriented
  • goal oriented
  • tireless workers
  • detail oriented (AKA: Anal)

Sounds great right? The glue that holds the world together.

But wait, there’s more…a more darker side that is. Oxen are also:

  • too stern
  • not terribly social
  • introverted in a crowd
  • not concerned with what others think and therefore often considered haughty
  • stubborn
  • dogmatic
  • my-way or the highway types

What a fun bunch we are. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, my actual birth year (1973) was also an “Ox” year.

So really, I’m optimistic. Despite my many proclivities towards being a surly, mean bastard, this could actually be my year!

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Dad Blogs Family Fatherhood Marriage

Too busy to blog!

Since I’m pretty sure most folks are as busy as me, I’m just gonna go ahead and wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS.

I probably won’t post until at least the day after Christmas, unless the next coupla days spent up at my mother’s in Tennessee produces some unusually juicy blog fodder.

I truly hope that whatever you do these next few days, is done with genuine and heartfelt feelings. You do that, and you’re golden.

But first, I’d like to share with you my thoughts from CareerMom’s family Christmas gathering.

Please read it while singing along with “The 12 Days of Christmas” in your head (you may have to improvise here since the syllables won’t be exactly right…):

Fa la la la la, la la la la…

12 Adults Singing Cabbage Patch Songs

11 Crappy Dirty Santa Gifts

10 Yummy side dishes

9 Ladies stressing

8 Men a meandering

7 Kids a screaming

6 Kinds of wine

FIVE SPOILED BRATS!

4 Days to Go

3 Hours Here

2 Living with their folks again

With One BABY ON THE WAAAAAAAAY!

(not us…the ones living at home again…)

nativity

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Dad Blogs DIY Family Fatherhood Life in these United States Marriage

He was in the prime of his life; but, it was the housecleaning that did him in…

mopping “Daddy?” MLI said, from the top of the stairs. “We’re coming downstairs to watch some cartoons before bed because the TV up in your room is broken.”

Looking up from the floor where I sat folding laundry, “Broken? Hold on, let me come look at it. And don’t come down here! I just mopped and the floor is very slippery!”

Sighing as I placed the clothes in my hand back into the laundry basket, I tiptoed across the freshly mopped floor that was the result of the evening’s earlier Gingerbread Men Icing-fest and then headed up the stairs.

Once upstairs, I confirmed that the TV wasn’t broken; it was just showing the picture in black and white. Knowing this could mean only one thing, I wiggled A/V wires until, sure enough, the color returned.

“Yeaah Daddy!” CareerMom exclaimed.

I bowed, and then headed out the bedroom door, grabbing glasses and other items to return to the kitchen as I went.

Thinking about the twenty things I still needed to do before MY bedtime, I hurried down the stairs.

I stepped down off the last carpeted step onto the freshly mopped linoleum floor and WHOOOOOOPS! Out went my feet from under me! The many various items in my hands went flying across the kitchen and my feet went straight out in front of me! With a gi-normous “THUD!” I hit the ground.

CareerMom, having heard the noise and expecting the worst, came flying down the stairs.

“Are you OK?” Did you hurt your back?”

By this time I had rolled over onto my hands and knees. Rather than just hopping up and exclaiming, “I’m fine…nothing to see here,” like I would have ten years ago, I patiently remained nearly motionless as I took a physical inventory.

Mentally talking to myself:

“Back hurting? No.”

“Butt hurts though.”

“Why does my foot hurt? Man, that hurts like hell!”

I slowly got up and cavalierly tried to wave off CareerMom, “I’m OK.” Then, I took a step and “OUCH!”

I looked down at my foot and could see the swelling coming on. As near as I can tell without going to see a Doctor (which I’m not going to do), I, at the very least, strained some ligaments from my big toe up to my ankle. I’m not sure how one falls on his tailbone, yet torques his toe as if he’d stubbed it, but I somehow managed it.

I iced it and went to bed, only to be woken up around 2:45 with a throbber (my foot gentlemen…my foot!). I downed some “Migraine Strength” Excedrin (with caffeine as I was to find out) and laid on the couch the rest of the night and into the morning.

It’s not broken, that’s for sure. I can walk on the left side of my (left) foot pretty well, but if I put any weight on the toe portion, it’s NIAGRA FALLS!

Yeah, “Yeaah Daddy!” Graceful as a gazelle!

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Dad Blogs Family Fatherhood Life in these United States Marriage

And who said the Fire Department only showed up for fires?

Each year, our local fire department, does what they call a “Santa Run.” Basically, you drop off a gift for your child at the fire department a week ahead of time and then the following weekend, they bring the whole fire department to your house, where Santa gives the gift to your child. It’s all very exciting…and loud. This was our second year doing it and rather than giving you a play-by-play, I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking:

Santa Run 1

Here comes the ambulance and firetruck with all the sirens going. We could hear it coming all the way up through the neighborhood. All in all, I think there were probably 15 people involved with about 5-6 different vehicles.

It’s quite a spectacle.

Santa Run 2

At this point, the boys are a little shell-shocked I think. We’d had to wake up MLI from his nap a tad earlier than we’d hoped.

This ambulance drove right by us with the siren going off. It was crazy loud.

Santa Run 3

“OMG! It’s Santa!”

Santa Run 4Everything’s going well with MLI. No tears this year, no tearful hands in his mouth.

I’m pretty sure he’s just speechless over the getting of the gift!

How will his little brother do…?

Santa Run 5

OH! There we go! That’s what we were waiting for!
I also especially liked the look on the guy in the middle’s face. It was as if to say, “I hope these sunglasses hide the fact that I had to get stoned off my butt to put up with this crap again this year!”

Thanks Santa! See you next year!