Tag: Dad Blog

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Dad Blogs Family Fatherhood Life in these United States Marriage Society

Remember when…

1. Being sick meant you felt quasi-bad for a day, but by the end of the day, you were second guessing whether or not you actually had felt well enough to go to the gym?

2. A million dollars sounded like a LOT more money than it does now when you really break it down in your head (taxes, mortgage payoff, etc.)

3. The one child that you had seemed like the hardest job ever.

4. You weren’t going to be one of these people who never travels overseas. After all, there’s plenty of time for that…

5. Vacations actually felt like vacations? Mostly because someone else was paying for it and you could just relax rather than busily trying to ensure the kids make a memory.

6.  Sex was REALLY exciting.

7. Your current job was simply a means to an end, and not a definer of you as a person to everyone else

8. You could stay awake at night (in bed) through an entire prayer.

9. Aerosmith was a fairly young band (you can also insert “U2” here)

10. Cold weather didn’t bother you and the beach was NEVER too hot.

11. You had friends that you could spend time with.

12. The cost of gas for your car was the most important expense you had.

13. You could eat an entire box of Krispy Kreme donuts and not notice the result the next day (uh huh, you know who you are)

14. Choosing between getting some sleep, or staying up and watching THE most important sporting event of the year on TV was a no-brainer.

15. You didn’t get mad when the fireworks went off on New Year’s Eve and July4th (thereby waking you and the kids up)

16. You thought reading a story to your kid(s) at night was going to be a wonderful and precious thing, rather than just another chore you have to do before you can get some quiet time.

17. You had time to actually cook…using knives and other fun utensils.

18. ANY alcohol at all–even cheap-o Mad Dog 20/20– tasted good to you.

19. Your parents looked young(ish)

20. You felt young(ish)

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Dad Blogs Family Life in these United States

Goodbye to my best friend

Tomorrow morning I’ll be making one of the more difficult choices I’ve ever made. My Doberman of almost 13 years has gotten too sick to remain with us. An otherwise healthy and active dog, she has succumbed to ravenous cancer and near-crippling arthritis that prevents her from doing much more than just lying down all day. Despite heavy medication, even getting up to use the bathroom causes her to yelp in pain and I just can’t let her go on like that.

Knikki has been with me for almost 13 years. I picked her out of a litter of pups when she was about 9 weeks old. She was the one who, like me, sat apart from the group and watched. Together we made it through having her ears clipped (and my re-taping them multiple times),  my recovering from a bad breakup that nearly made me want to give up on life, and she was there literally, when I met my now wife. Together we’ve run more miles than I can count; chased more balls that I can remember and terrified more ducks than can be found in Central Park.

She moved with me to Ohio for a year while I worked a contract job, and then came back to Atlanta with me, where we have lived since. She’s put up with numerous additions to the family, all the while accepting a smaller and smaller amount of my attentions. She’s put up with rambunctious children climbing on her, and an over-exuberant Weimeraner who steals her food when she’s not looking.

All the while she’s been a faithful and obedient companion. And I’m going to miss her terribly.

Lord, if there is a place in heaven for your child’s best friend, please make a place for my Knikki. She deserves it far more than I do.

Goodbye.

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Dad Blogs Family Life in these United States

My How Times Have Changed

Having recently been forced to upgrade my old computer, I’ve started realizing just how much things have changed in the last decade. And I pick the 10-year point because it’s when my life changed most significantly, and because it’s just a nice round number. But watching change happen around you is a bit like watching your hairline disappear—it happens so slowly that you don’t really notice it til someone points it out to you and then WHAM! You can’t NOT notice it anymore.

For instance, ten years ago:

  • We were all using dial-up
  • A 2.6Ghz Intel Pentium chip, with Hyperthreading, was just da-bomb! Now, it sucks
  • My dogs were puppies
  • I thought making the money that I do now would be a blessing
  • Christmas was still about “me”!
  • Stamps were 33 cents each
  • The DOW closed above 11,000 for the first time (aaah, the good old days. Thank you Mr. Reagan!)
  • IE version 5.0 was released (we’re now on what…8.x?)
  • MySpace was introduced and pervs around the world could now show off their freakiness!
  • We were all walking around quoting “Austin Powers”

But there have been more personal changes of course. For instance, in the last ten years, I’ve gone back to school and finished my degree. I’ve had three children and I’ve now been married for ten years. Ten years…wow!

Funny thing is, my shell has changed, but my mind has not. I’m still the same young-at-heart, testosterone-laden Male I was then. Only now it’s tempered with respect for my wife.

Now rather than figuring out when I want to start having kids, I’m trying to figure out how to stop having them and still have fun.

Instead of going for a run at 9 p.m. cuz I’m bored and have too much energy, I veg out in front of the TV while lying in bed because I know I’ll be up at the butt-crack of dawn getting juice and blankets for the boys, in between potty training and bottle feedings.

This is how old age gets you. It doesn’t hit you all at once with a slip in the bathtub and a hip fracture. No, it sneaks up on you little by little until the next thing you know, you’re having thyroid tests run and trying to figure out when Taylor Swift stopped looking like a child and became a hottie you’d hit given half a chance! (When you were SINGLE. When you were single…)

Oh snap! Maybe my mind HAS changed.

Crap!

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Dad Blogs Family Fatherhood Life in these United States

I’m alright, ain’t nobody worried ’bout me…

Seriously folks, despite the total lack of communication in more months than I’m ashamed to admit, we’re all good here.

Busy. Tired. Completely OVER the cost of daycare. But fine, nevertheless.

Just to catch you up in easy to read bullets:

  • Yes, I’m still alive and kicking.
  • I still have my job, my family, and if you disregard a busted toe, bad wrist and knees, I still have my health.
  • Marissa (our newest member) is 3.5 months old now. She’s a HOSS! But she’s also a sweetheart as long as you follow the rules:
    – If you hold her, you cannot stop moving. This means no sitting down…evar!
    – She likes to eat. Keep a bottle handy.
    – She will suck the dye out of your shirt, so you must ALWAYS keep a burp cloth over your shoulder
    – Never joke about not having changed a big poopy recently. You WILL regret it
  • MLI and MLE are doing well. They are also turning into true brothers, which means constant nitpicking at each other (which means mom and dad are constantly yelling at them)

Yeah, that’s pretty much it. Just surviving the holidays the best way we know how (avoidance?). I promise to try and blog more…I really do. There’s just been no free time lately. If I DO have free time, I’m probably doing something wrong and should be either making dinner, cleaning the house, or holding the baby.

If I don’t talk to you soon, I wish all my virtual buds (and budettes) a very merry Christmas!