Dads

We came across another great blog post from Always Home and Uncool. Read the article.

All those people left without electricity and heat after that storm knocked down all the trees and powerlines in the Northeast over the weekend?

The Uncools are among them.

We’re all fine. We narrowly had a tree fall on the Minivan of Manliness while trying to get out of the neighborhood on Saturday night. We had another just miss our patio shortly after that. This freaked Thing 2 a bit, but other than that, we’re all good.

Our house is fine, but dark and cold and missing a handful of shingles from the garage roof. Oh, it’s also filled with a slowly rotting freezer full of food we had just purchased at Costco.

On the positive side, my arteries didn’t need that 8 pounds of bacon, any way.

Latest word is that we’ll get power back on Wednesday.

Night.

8 o’clock.

I’ll survive but the Things were a bit stir crazy without computers, TVs and the like after just 30 minutes. We’re at the public library charging up their Nintendo DS’s as I type while I look for a non-existent local hotel room to crash in. They’ll survive, though. Luckily, it isn’t sub-freezing temperatures and I still have some firewood left from the storms three years ago to burn and we have a warm Lab to lay on our feet.

Please don’t try to come help us. Really. I’ve had one cold shower in four days and I’m afraid my funk would render you unconscious.

Hope to have more for you soon from a re-electrified Uncool Estates. Be well, all. We are.

We came across another great blog post from Clark Kent’s Lunchbox. Read the article.

We came across another great blog post from Hot Dads. Read the article.

Sorry that I have been away from the whole Twitter and blog thing for the past week…I am just feeling a bit off these days.Even though my lazy ass is not working right now…I feel run-the-fuck-down. With 6 kids…even the smallest chore, like keeping the house clean is a tough one. But kids aside…I have been spending 10 to 12 hours a week on the Lacrosse field as I was appointed one of the coaches

We came across another great blog post from Hockeyman. Read the article.

No, I’m not joining the army. Although I would like to go through boot camp, just to do it. Call me crazy, but I want to get whipped into that kind of shape and I am intrigued by the challenge. Perhaps though, my body is too old to handle it. I know, I’m still young. But I am sore all over right now. Yesterday I played hockey in a higher than my normal league and played really well. I lost 12-2, but I say I played really well because I made 46 saves. Yes, 58 shots came my way including 2 or 3 three man breakaways. I stopped one of those 3. Tonight I played soccer. It’s the playoffs so if we won our first game we had our second game against a team with a first round bye IMMEDIATELY following. We won the first match 1-0 and then lost the second match by the same score. We played really well, but alas, our season ended for 2 whole weeks.

Tomorrow night I will see one of my most favorite artists. He’ll be performing without his band, just him and his piano and I cannot wait. None of you came through for a sitter so my wife cannot come. Sad she cannot be with me, but I’ll be with my best bud of many years and the tickets came courtesy of an old friend. An old neighbor I don’t think I’ve seen since my sophomore year in high school. So I look forward to seeing my old friend again and perhaps catching up a little bit. For your enjoyment, here is one of my favorite songs Mr. Folds plays live.

We came across another great blog post from Juggling Eric. Read the article.

We had a pretty busy weekend. It also didn’t help that we lost an hour as well.

Saturday we went to KC’s grandmother’s birthday party at her grandmother’s house. I realized that great-grandparent’s houses are not really kid friendly.

So I did what I normally do and made sure that the kids didn’t run into a hot bar-bq pit, rose bushes or out into the street.

Inside wasn’t much better. There I stressed out when the kids messed with her televisions (plasma’s by the way), pictures on the coffee table, and stepped on chips in the kitchen.

KC would tell me not to worry about it, but it was hard not too when Celi was messing with the remote to the TV’s and was pretty close to knocking one down.

The kids had a great time despite their father’s compulsive rising stress levels. They played football in the backyard where Disco would barrel through his girl cousins on a way to a touchdown.

You may think that a great-grandmother’s birthday party isn’t a fun place to be, but just check out my sister-in-law’s Facebook status during the event.

And this was close to 7pm. We left around eight. No telling how many more Corona’s lost their lives that night.

Daylight Savings Time kicked out butts yesterday. Our church let’s us keep our hour of lost sleep by not requiring us to change our clocks ahead until the services are over. It’s pretty cool because you have a little extra time to get ready, but we still failed to get there on time.

I have five kids and a wife to get ready. The fact that we get there prior to the alter call is a miracle of God himself.

So if we get to church for the 11am service, and it’s usually done by 12:45, then when we change the clocks ahead when it’s over it’s close to 2pm already.

That part stinks.

My goal was to clean up the back yard, which looks like a tornado tore through a trailer park and deposited the debris on my property. The side of the house had a collection of huge boxes too big for the recycle bin, a bed frame that was broken, an old stove, about a years worth of soda cans meant to be recycled for seventy five cents and other trash.

The back yard was littered with more cans, some old clothes and torn up cardboard.

The trash all over the place was thanks to Happy. I knew he would grow up to be annoying me when we kept him.

Sometimes words can’t describe the horrifying events which happen as well as pictures, so I’ll let you witness for yourself.

This was the side of the house. You see how horrible it is?? It’s quite embarrassing really. I hate that it got to that point. It’s really tough for me to be able to be able accomplish projects like this. I would love for it to never be there, but for some reason there is never enough time available to get it done.

And you also see a before shot of the curb and my crappy grass.

When I first got started, my neighbor on the trash side you see above wanted to know if I needed a huge garbage bag like they were using. I thought it was really nice since the only thing I’ve given them are cans in their backyard and un-mowed grass. The bag can hold like 200 gallons or something. At first I thought it was nice they gave me two, but then I thought they were meaning I had a lot of crap in my yard.

Upon starting, I noticed the below objects in a trashcan.

Sure beer bottles are not that big of deal, but when we don’t drink beer in our house it twists my brain with the question of “Why?”

At first I thought it was the previous neighbors because they were a bit rowdy. Not as nice as the bag giving ones. But then I checked the born on date and it was 02-09-10.

2010? It was the current ones. Why the heck would they go to their backyard and drop these in my trashcan? They have a recycle bin just like we do. Is someone hiding the fact they were drinking? Was it my family? MaddSkillz? My dad? KC??

There were five bottles and we have five kids. Coincidence?

About two and a half hours later, MaddSkillz and I accomplished this.

Upfront is also the pool that we didn’t take care of, a picnic table that was just taking up too much space, and a ton of other junk. I’m quite proud of our accomplishment.

That’s why this is number three.

Now once I get all this crap up to the front, a new story happens. The scrap vultures come and go through your trash taking what they want. Case in point 2 minutes after I finished.

Taken from a surveillance video from MaddSkillz room. Someone was already taking the stove. They also took the picnic table as well.

Where were they when I was trying to get it to the front?

How was your weekend my friends? Did DST kick your butt?

Have a great one.

We came across another great blog post from 5ksandcabernets. Read the article.

Saturday: 14.21 miles in 1:48:13 (7:36 pace)

Sunday recover run: 11.17 miles in 1:31:42 (8:12 pace)

I’ve run five consecutive days now for the first time since probably last September when I was training for Portland. I’ve hit 40 miles a week for the third time in four weeks, the most running I’ve done since last October, early November, when I was training for White Rock.

I did Saturday’s run in the Etonic Praya NC3s. Felt good. After the run, I stopped into Rogue’s running store and bought a pair of Brooks Ghost. I had read that a lot of people like the shoe, but they didnt like the sockliner because it was too much for their arches. So, I took the sockliner out of my now shelved Brooks Adrenalines and slipped them in the Ghosts for Sunday’s run.

My feet love these shoes. Love them. And I can say that about them after just one run on tired legs.

So now, I can rotate my Etonics and my Brooks Ghosts, and I’ll give a better review of the Brooks after a run on fresh legs.

We came across another great blog post from Happy Healthy Hip Parenting. Read the article.

Jennifer Kolari, child & family therapist and author of Connected Parenting passed on the Beautiful Blogger Award to me earlier today. It seems to be a month of fame & recognition for me but this award is different, in that I also get to pass it on to 7 bloggers who I feel deserve the same recognition.

First, I need to share 7 things about Happy Healthy Hip Parenting that you might not know. Here goes:

1. I am a Certified Parent Educator through the International Network for Children and Families.
2. I teach a 5-week course on Redirecting Children’s Behavior.
3. I teach one hour workshops covering topics on Sibling Rivalry, The Terrific Twos, and Couple’s Communication. I am available to speak at your school or for your Mom’s group.
4. I specialize in courses on Co-Parenting that are approved through the San Diego Court system.
5. I can help you discover your Maximum Attraction or provide you with a Couple Compatibility report using The Ultimate Life Tool.
6. I write online as the San Diego Parenting Examiner.
7. You can find me at Parental Wisdom as one of the Advisor Experts.

And now, for the 7 blogger who I am passing on the Beautiful Blogger Award to:

1. Not Your Average Single Mama – She’s at the top of my list because she doesn’t hold back, and is stronger than I could ever hope to be.
2. Single Mom Survives - She cracks me up. Daily. She’s sassy and sweet, a great combination for any writer.
3. Alaina (aka Ms. Single Mama) – Even though she has decided to stop blogging recently, her stories and her site will be around for a while. Please send her some comment love.
4. Melysa of Mely Speaks – Her story is real and she’s not afraid to laugh at herself. We could all use a little Mely in our lives.
5. Dr. Leah and Rachel Sarah of Single Mommyhood – Together, these two women have created a great site that offers support to single moms and those who love them.
6. Jessica of Bern This – Who needs TV when you can watch the awesome and hilarious videos in her web series? Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.
7. Kristin of Halfway to Normal – Kristin is a true writer, in every sense of the word. She makes readers think, discusses controversial subjects intelligently, offering a great debate on issues surrounding religion, marriage and raising three young women in our culture today.

This was not an easy list to compile. I follow so many single moms and dads, even, but this list is filled with the women who I find inspiring on many levels and whom I chat with outside of commenting on their blogs. They’re great, beautiful, strong women and I know that no matter what adventures they write about, I will be entertained, amazed and enriched.

Pass on the love, now ladies, by coming up with your own list of Beautiful Bloggers to share this award with.

Happy Healthy Hip Parenting
Peace Begins in the Home

We came across another great blog post from Hot Dads. Read the article.

Bob works hard at the office but spends two nights each week bowling, and plays golf every Saturday.His wife thinks he’s pushing himself too hard, so for his birthday she takes him to a local strip club.The doorman at the club greets them and says, ‘Hey, Bob! How ya doin?’His wife is puzzled and asks if he’s been to this club before.’Oh no,’ says Bob. ‘He’s in my bowling league..’When they are

We came across another great blog post from Hockeyman. Read the article.

Every week, we try to take our girls to the local public library. We have a really great system here in our county and since we pay taxes for it, we should use it. I hear people complain about the expense on their tax bill, but shame on you if you never use it. You also pay for public schools and a myriad of other things you probably don’t realize. Regardless of if you use any of these things or not, its a fact of life. It’s an expense that is part of the price of the community you choose to call home. Remember that, you choose to live there. The only thing you should be complaining about is the quality of the services you pay for.

Sorry about that little rant, so on with my point.

The girls absolutely LOVE going and I love taking them. Now that my 5yo can read, she is obsessed with doing just that. She always makes sure to get a good mixture of fiction and non-fiction books too. If you told her she could only have 2 books, she would get one of each. The 4yo cannot read yet, but is really trying hard to keep up with her older sibling and is doing well. I love to see her get picture books as well though because she tells fabulous stories just based on the pictures.

Anyway, I love to go too but for different reasons. See, we have a great system where I live. Very up to date materials from books, to movies and Cd’s. I usually get a handful or two of Cd’s to “try them out” and expand my horizons. This wees haul is what inspired this post though. I got perhaps the most eclectic mix of music I’ve ever borrowed. See, I don’t always go for new titles. I like to find old albums I probably had on cassette back in the day along with stuff I couldn’t buy as a kid, weren’t born yet when it was made, or just liked one song and want to hear the rest without investing – for.

As you may know, I LOVE music. I have such passion for it and I listen to it almost constantly. Even in my daily activities, simple things remind me of songs all over the spectrum and I’m singing in my head. I have certain things I listen to before I play hockey, before I go to bed, and while I work all day. I don’t just hear music, I listen to it. I study the lyrics and emotion of the singer in each track. I love passionate music. I don’t mean love songs, I mean I can hear, see, and feel the passion behind the track. Mostly though, I love re-discovering old songs I’ve heard for years that suddenly become a favorite because something in my life can now be related to it. That’s the most fun about having a large library I listen to constantly on shuffle.

So, here is my list of borrowed Cd’s. I think it shows the variety of things I like. What do you think?

1. Jim Croce – Photographs & Memories – His greatest hits
   Track after track of classic rock genius. I promise there’s at least one on this alum you like
2. Monster Ballads
   How did that get in there? “They taught us how to rock, then they taught us how to love” said the infomercial. Hehe, I really got into the hair metal bands and this is a good mix tape of the ballads. I never had the hair, but don’t deny it, you like some of this stuff too. At least one.
3. Pavarotti’s Greatest Hits
   Yeah, this dude can sing like no one else. I don’t have much opera so I may as well have some of the best by the best. I love Nessun dorma! for its passion. Pure passion.
4. Conor Oberst – Conor Oberst
   New acoustic rock by a fairly unknown. This is a solo effort and I really liked his group stuff with Bright Eyes. Look up “First Day of My Life” as a good starting point. It was mine with Conor.
5. Beastie Boys – Licensed to Ill
   I had the tape. This album is still awesome. Somehow the wife didn’t know it. I hadn’t heard it in years, yet still knew most of the lyrics to Paul Revere. Genius early hip hop by a brilliant trio with a legend in the making producer Rick Rubin. I usually listen to anything he produces, regardless of the genre.
6. George Michael – Faith
   Although some of this record dates itself to the 80’s pop of my junior high days, the first 4 tracks are timeless classics. Faith, Father Figure, I Want Your Sex, One More Try. You know you have memories to these.
7. Regina Spector – Far
   I love her voice, I love her arrangements, I love her sound. She’s just different in the right kind of way.
8. Rush – The Spirit of Radio (Greatest Hits 1974 – 1987)
   I still love these tracks, the best the band did. I know you probably had a boyfriend who was really into them or maybe you were that boyfriend. Just a great collection of tracks from their early works which in my opinion were they’re best. Still one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen.
9. Thelonious Monk & John Coltrane – The complete 1957 Riverside Recordings
   When it comes to the improvisational genre of Jazz, these two are legends. Smooth and sultry at its finest.

So there you go. My typical variety of sounds and rhythms that fill my ears every day. Thanks if you made it this far into my list. As a bonus, I will give you my favorite little past time activity to do in a library. Find the non-fiction section of your public library, you know the area with those crazy numbers that organize the mess. Anyway, pick an aisle or two at random and just walk down them paying close attention to all that’s there. I kind of find it amazing about all the information out there about everything you probably didn’t think of. If you’re feeling adventurous, grab something in a subject that made you stop and look longer than usual and check it out. You’ll certainly learn something you didn’t know about the world around you. Enjoy.

We came across another great blog post from Dad’s ‘Mac & Cheese’. Read the article.

In recent weeks, Charlotte’s pre-school class has been going through the alphabet, focusing on a new letter each day.  Part of the day is spent decorating a giant version of the letter of the day with items that begin with that letter.
Earlier this week, the letter was ‘G, and what a ‘g’lorious letter it is!  [...]