Mr. Mom

So...

My wife went out of town this past weekend.  She was in Texas for a convention.  I was home with all 4 of the rug-rats.  I am tired.  It really isn't the feeding or cleaning or transporting hither and yon....it really is just the constant position of 'on'.  It seems that when you are alone you have to always be 'on' to prevent major meltdowns and arguments.

That being said, we should ALL tip our hats to the single Moms and single Dads out there fighting this battle every day.  I salute you single people....whether you chose it or not, your road is really very difficult and we need to provide you with as much support as possible.

Anyway, we cleaned the house and watched some movies.  That's what we do.  When Sunnye got home, my son Ben says:  "Dad said we would clean, then watch a movie, then clean some more.  But the truth is, when it doesn't get real dirty, you get to watch movies faster.  We should keep it like this!"   If only he could remember that the next time I ask him to clean his room or Sunnye tells him to pick up.

Parenting....it's tiring....worth it, but tiring.

Blogging for dummies

So, the point of this blogging thing is to do it often...if not every day.  


I'm not very good at it since my last entry was in August of last year.


To catch you all up, since August we have:

• Fostered a beautiful little boy named Vincent.  He went home to his family at Christmas.
• Found out that my position at CSUSB is short-lived.  We are hoping to find a position in Texas and move home as my job ends in July!
• Jack has completed his first season with Arsenal FC as the Keeper - they weren't very good, but the learned a lot...hopefully.  He is also now 5' tall at the age of 9...
• Ben has turned 7 and lost most of his front teeth.  He learned to ride a bike over the Christmas Holidays.  He got on and rode away...it was awesome!
• Sarah got her first corsage as my date to the Daddy-Daughter dance.  She looked fabulous...
• Jennifer has starting potty training...we are hoping for a quick transition and the end of Diapers as we know it!
• Sunnye has been focusing on home-schooling and slowly building her Mary Kay business.  She has also been working out in the mornings and looks great!
• I have been working and going to grad school for an MPA...trying to save the world as always.

So, if your reading this...your caught up.  If not, then you don't care anyway and I'm talking to myself.

Awesome.

What has happened....?

My wife and I went on a date on Saturday.  We got some dinner and then went to walk around the bookstore and do some window shopping.  The time has arrived when we are basically disgusted by the movies being vomited by Hollywood, so the movies are out; too much money, too much gore, too little class, and no plot creativity or character development.

So we went to the bookstore (a popular national chain that also serves coffee from another popular national chain).  This store has a music section, so I did some browsing.  It was depressing to see what a 'music section' is and what the music scene has become.

Remember when all we did was go to the music store and hang out?  I remember this place called Hastings Music in Amarillo.  It was in this little converted building on the corner.  All the windows were blocked up with the posters and the back of the cassette racks.  When you went in you had to slip between all the aisles of records and cassette racks.  The lighting was low and the music was always different and loud.  You could find all kinds of music in all kinds of forms and when you bought an album you were buying it for the one, maybe two, songs that you had heard on the radio.  There wasn't a preview  headphone area; you couldn't listen to a little piece of each song before your purchase.  That was the fun.  You didn't know what you would get.  I remember buying the Def Leppard album 'Hysteria' for one song...you know which one...and I was blown away by the remainder of the album.

Not anymore.  Now, the music section SUCKS!  Everything is available to 'sample' before buying.  It is bright and open and airy...BLAHGHGH!  The guys behind the counter didn't choose the music being played, that was done by some jackass at corporate.  In fact, this kid didn't look like he knew Jazz from Country from Acid Rock.  He had never heard of the Talking Heads.  I miss the music store.  I miss the loud music chosen by the guy behind the counter who knew all the local bands and the upcoming scene.  I miss the excitement and the mystery.

Maybe I should just open a real music store...I wonder if anyone would come.  I wonder if I could find somebody that knew the scene and would be able to tap in to the energy that use to exist in the music store.  I wonder.

Stepping over the napkin

So, I went on vacation.  Turned off my phone for several days and enjoyed the majesty that is the Mammoth Lakes region of California.  I caught some fish, shot some guns, taught my boys how to fish and shoot, and generally had a fantastic time.  Before I left, I set up my projects so that very tangible things could occur while I was gone.

None of that happened.

It appears that each of the projects went into a magical vacation time warp and they look no different than the day I left.  How and Why does that happen?  I always tell my staff and coworkers to plan for the worst and hope for the best.  I remind them that none of us is irreplaceable or an island.  If one of us is killed by a bus tomorrow, we had all better be able to pick up the pieces and keep moving forward.  And yet, I dropped off the face of the earth for a few days and nothing happened.  No decisions were made, no conflicts resolved...for that matter, no conflicts developed.

It seems to me this has become a common problem of our society.  We don't take initiative.  We don't step out of our box to move the machine forward or to help another member.  While at McDonald's the other day, I noticed a napkin on the floor adjacent to the soda machine.  I decided I would wait and see what happened.  To my chagrin, nothing happened.  Not one person bent over to pick it up or kicked it out of the way.  In fact, several people stepped right over it in a very conscious way.

We must change this current.  We must teach our children to take the initiative, to pick up the napkin,  to stir things up.  If we don't, the latest debacle of debt negotiation and market collapse will only deepen and become persistent.

GOD gave us this world to glorify him...are you going to do that?  Or, are you going to step over the napkin.

BSC or 'Bat Sh*t Crazy'

At what point do people cross over into the realm of the BSC?  Is it a reality they are born into or do they slowly slip into it over the years?

I wonder if BSC is actually a contagious condition...

So, what do you think?  Is it just me?

Let the FUN begin!

So, I've never done this before.  Please give me some grace.  Basically, this is just a place for my observations on the world.  I have, as we all do, a unique perspective.  


If you don't like what I say...I don't really care.  


If you do....cool.