Changes, they are a coming!

WHAT NOW?

My blog posts have been like a rednecks teeth, few and far between. I think part of it is my new part time gig, that I can do at the office of my barley part time career and still not interrupt my status of a part time stay at home dad (what?). It is really eating up the time I used have for blogging, checking my fantasy football stats, playing bubble shooter, watching YouTube videos and wondering around fac book, something I am done with by the way, but that's a different blog.

Now I work, come home with the kids, train for my next race, spend time with my better half, spend time with some of my favorite media (TV, Movies and Music) and try and keep those damn resolutions I made on New Year's. Where is the time to blog? Well, here is my just a couple of weeks past new year's resolution...blog 5 days a week (who blogs on the weekends, right?). How will I do this when in the past I can go two weeks without a creative post. Simple, give each day of the week a theme and make those themes something I actually have an interest in writing about. Simple enough, right...hmmmmm? Well, it's worth a shot I guess. I'll also be changing up the look and feel of my blog just like you move around furniture to freshen up a room.

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend.

PEACE OUT!

Things I learned in 2009

What Now?

In the past 12 months I have learned the following things:

1. My wife is an athlete! I always new she had athletic ability, but after she crossed the line of her first 70.3 half Ironman triathlon, I knew she had realized her athletic potential. I am so proud of her, and the best is yet to come.

2. My oldest child is one of the sweetest people I know. I think it's kind of rare to find a 7-year old that puts the needs and feelings of everyone else before her own, I and Love her so much for that.

3. My youngest, while being extremely challenging at times, will go on to do great things when she is older. The challenging, stubborn child of today will turn into an independent woman tomorrow, willing to try anything and succeed at most.

4. While the nation's economic trouble was very hard for a lot of folks, I believe it was one of the best things that could have happened to our family.

4a. My family can do more with less. Excess is not our thing, and it never will be.

5. There is way too much reality tv, social media, and methods to contact people in the world today. For all the advances we have in communication I think these things are very unnecessary (yes, I would give up blogging too if that meant ridding the world of all the other social media outlets).

6. I can accomplish just about anything if I put my mind to it and give it my best shot. Last year it was finishing a marathon. This year..........

7. Sex gets better with age.

8. There are different levels of success. I had my worst career year ever, and yet I would call 2009 one of my most successful years. It all comes down to priorities.

9. Blogging can be fun, entertaining and educational. And you can meet some great people along the way.

10. You just can't beat experiences with your kids when you think of what is truly important to you. This year was incredible for my family in regards to the places we got to visit, events we got to attend, and time we spent with each other and members of our family and friends. I am the richest man on earth thanks to the special people I share my home with. I love you all and look forward to having a great 2010 with you!

Peace out!

My 100th post - break out the beer!!!

What Now?

Here it is. The wait is over. The time has come. You are one of the 5 to 7 people reading the 100th post of my blog "What Now?" It is also number 10 on the WND Top Ten list I have had going for the last couple of weeks. Pretty big stuff, eh? What started as random ramblings from a new dad blogger has turned into random ramblings of a dad blogger with 100 posts. Wow, the feelings I am feeling are...well, hmmmmm. Not much different, but I have to kinda make a big deal out of it, right? I mean, when a TV show hits 100 episodes they all eat cake after taping. When someone turns 100 years old the Today Show wheels out good ol' Willard to slap a Smuckers logo on their face. Elementary schools always make a bid deal out of the 1ooth day of school (usually that means my kids bring home 100 pieces of garbage I have to secretly throw away after they go do bed).

So what should be done to commemorate this dad's 100th blog post. I have a few ideas that I'd like to share with you...come and enjoy:

1. Maybe 73 other bloggers can become official "followers" of my blog are bring me to 100 total. I can't tell you how excited I get now when just one more person becomes a follower of my blog.....my kids call it "Daddy giving seconds of desert night!"

2. My boss could get me a more comfortable chair at work so when I write my blog posts (you know, the real important work) I can do it without jerking around like a fish out of water. I don't know what it is, but I can't sit still for more than 2 minuets these days. I'm like Kramer's girlfriend who had the "jimmy legs".

3. Getting a personal "congrats" message from the President, or at least my favorite blogger currently, Jason Mayo of Out Numbered. Here is a guy I can really relate too. He is the only male in his house....so am I. He writes a blog about him and his family....so do I. He is devilishly handsome...so am I (Thanks Madonna for helping me with this little tribute).

4. I could be wearing my most comfortable t-shirt and jeans sipping on a ice chilled glass of my favorite beer, Pipeline Porter, while my wife, wearing her sexy camisole and boy shorts, pops peanut butter filled pretzels into my mouth with Jimmy Buffett or Dean Martin playing in the background. Oh wait, that's heaven I'm talking about.

5. Maybe my sweet, darling daughters will, for just a little while, get along, clean their room, eat their dinner, brush their teeth, make their bed, do their homework, feed the dog, set the table, not watch T.V., get themselves dressed, stay in bed and everything else my wife and I ask them to do without saying "why?" afterwards. Oh wait, this is reality I'm talking about.

Instead of holding my breath for any of these things to happen, I'll just pat myself on the back, pack up for the day and go pick up my girls from school. To my 5 to 7 faithful fans, I hope you have enjoyed reading my first 100 posts as much as I have enjoyed writing them. Until number 101....

PEACE OUT DADS!

They blinded me with science

WHAT NOW?

Yesterday afternoon it was just my girls and me for the whole day. For most of the summer we have split days with another family, or my mom would watch the girls, or I would drop them off at their former daycare to see their old teachers and some old friends. But yesterday it was just me and them, for the day, all day. The night before I put my plan together and it was just what Dr. Thomas Dolby ordered...a trip to our local kids science center. I myself have never been, but both my kids and wife have. We had talked about it for the past month or so and yesterday was the day.

As science centers go, and I speak with limited experience only having visited a couple in my life, ours is OK, not great, but not terrible. I didn't know what to expect really but when we walked through the doors I thought it was going to be better then static balloons stuck to the wall. The youngest, "R", was instantly startled by the stuffed cougar and coyote that greeted us at the door. It did not matter that they were long since dead, she was not going near those things. Just then a plastic ball with two small rodents goes jetting by us. Obviously residents of these parts, my girls start to follow blindly before I get them back on track and to the real excitement.

After the usual fair of optical illusions, electricity experiments and puzzle games, a nice lady with a rodent on her shoulder asks if the girls would like to come listen to her little presentation on insects. My girls love insects, so they enthusiastically jump at the chance. I follow along to see the real show, not the bugs, but the amazing girls with a zillion questions. This poor lady did not know what she was in for..but I did, and I could not wait to see someone else tackle their barrage of endless queries.

So, of course the first round of questioning dealt with the rodent perched on her shoulders.

"Why is that mouse on your shoulders?"

"She is a rat, not a mouse, and she is my special assistant."

"What is the mouses name?"

"Again, she is a rat and her name is Violet."

"Why is Violet on your shoulders?"

"She is my special assistant and she likes to go for rides."

There were several other rat/mouse/Violet questions before she could even start her presentations. She starts by asking a few questions herself to test the insect knowledge of my girls. K had taken a trip to the local universities bug museum for school so she had all the answers. Her sister R on the other hand was still asking about Violet.

"Will your mouse bite?"

"No, she is very tame." she answered obviously giving up on convincing R that it was a rat and not a mouse.

About half way through the presentation the two rodents in the ball rolled by, starting a whole new series of questions that had nothing to do with insects.

"Why are those two mice in the ball?"

"They are called Dungas, not mice, and they are just exploring the center?"

"Why are they in that ball?"

"We keep them in the ball so they don't run away?"

"What is that brown stuff in the ball with them?"

"Dungas poop."

You can imagine where the question went from there. After trying to keep the girls on track for the better part of her presentation she wraps it up by asking if the girls had any questions about insects and there impact on the world? R raises her hand and says...

"Did you know there is a dead cougar and coyote in the lobby?"

"Yes I did"

"I don't like them?"

"Oh, they aren't real, you shouldn't be scared."

"OK...can I pet your mouse now?"

Long live science!!!

PEACE OUT DADS!