These are a few corks from wine bottles that Clare's Mom and I have shared recently. Although by recently I mean in the past ten years. I don't know why we save them. I think there was a plan back we started, but now they just sit in a basket in the kitchen.
Want to know what a few of the wines are? Check out The Whinery.
One of the Guys
Alltop has added me to their Alltop Dads page. In return, I promised to give them a little blog love.
It's actually a pretty cool concept they've got. They compile stories from “all the top” sites on the web in various topics. Some of those topics are serious—like education, economics, and politics— and some are not so much—like celebrities, fashion and wine. Then there are the Dads. The fact that anyone reads about our daily lives still boggles me.
Check out Alltop. There's an Alltop Moms page too.
Good Thing I Bought Those New Chucks
Last year's Nike Oregon Waffles are pretty beat up after a year of wear—which this morning included mowing and fertilizing wet grass and using up the last of that topsoil. That's right, the dirtpile is gone. Sorry to all you kids who didn't get here in time to play.
And Away We Go
After a tough and busy spring, this family is finally getting some time away. I'll tell you more about it when we get back.
Have a great weekend, everyone.
March Is a Tease
The end of my whining about winter is coming near. It's been forty to fifty degrees a few days this week and the snow is melting. Now I can begin to see all the work I have to do in the yard once it really warms up. You won't hear me complain about that or how hot it may get though—as long as it's warm and I can get outside I'll be happy.
This heat wave may not last though. It's only March and I hear the temperatures will be back in the thirties soon. I'm just hoping we won't see any more temps in the twenties or lower. I've come to believe that I live in the Arctic Circle. When I drive just about twenty minutes south the snow is gone already and the temperature is five to ten degrees higher. I guess that's the price we pay for living in Northwest Connecticut.
Something New to Whine About
Winter being almost over doesn't mean I'll stop complaining entirely. The presidential election is really starting to annoy me and there are still about eight months to go. There's one candidate in particular who really bugs me. This isn't a political blog though, so I won't go into that.
I will say that not I'm entirely behind any candidate one hundred percent. I'm registered Republican, but I'm just not feeling the love for McCain. Instead, I think we could use the fresh change that Obama stands for. I think he might also help bring some respect back to the country that the other candidates wouldn't. I'm curious what people outside the United States think.
I'll also say this. From what I've read online, I think there are quite a few Republicans—especially in states like Connecticut—who might vote for Obama. But, if Hillary is nominated—especially if it's through the superdelegate system or primary do-overs—we'll be voting for McCain.
I'm Being Found
Not long ago, there wasn't anybody I knew in real life who read this blog (aside from Clare's Mom). Then a few months ago someone from an internship I had over fifteen years ago found me. Sites like Facebook, where I've got my blog listed on my profile page, do make me and the blog more public I suppose.
Now I've been found by a friend from high school. Say hello to Tamara who blogs at Spincerely Yours—"a knitting blog with a dash of mommy" as she described it.
I'm going to have to watch what I say now that I know some people who really know me are reading.
Project X Update
I did go to the gym this morning. I also did some warming up at home. The number of push-ups that I can do is pathetic. I forgot to weigh myself at the gym so I'm not sure exactly how much I want to lose (we don't have a scale at home); I'm guessing it's somewhere between fifteen and twenty pounds though.
Bloggers joining me so far are Ed from Zoe's Dad, Phil from A Family Runs Through It, and Matthew at Childs Play x2. Anyone else want to join in committing to exercising, eating healthier, and losing weight? I also thought about creating a new blog just for Project X—a kind of real dads' journal of getting healthy. A few of us could be contributers with no pressure other than to post when we feel like it and, as I wrote yesterday, "encourage and harass" each other into sticking with it. Let me know what you think.
Have a great weekend, everyone. Don't forget to spring the clocks ahead. I gladly give up an hour's sleep for more daylight hours.
Rambling…
It’s been a while since I’ve gone a week without posting…and I don’t even have a vacation to blame it on this time. I’ve been at your blogs though. I’ve been checking out more of the dad and mom blogs in my blogroll. Unfortunately I haven’t commented as much—if I did I could probably spend all day on blogs.
Seeing so many more dad blogs than when I first started blogging about two and a half years ago makes me wish we had a huge master list or website to promote them all. I listed just about every dad blog I could find when I started, but I know there are so many more now. Social sites like Parentricity, the Stay at Home Dads Forum, cre8Buzz, and even Facebook are great for members to include blogs and interact, but I’m still wishing we had one great single site for dad bloggers.
…and Ranting
I told myself I wasn’t going to complain about winter anymore. I probably even made a comment like that on some of your blogs. But this is really getting old. It’s the end of February and temperatures are still like early January. It was two bleeping degrees this morning and there’s more snow coming tonight. If there are any more snow days, Clare really will be in school until the last week of June.
I’ll stop now, but I have one question. Why can’t the extra day in leap year be in the summer?
This Is Comfort?
I’m not so great at cooking or coming up with anything original to make for dinner. Usually I go with the same things week after week. This week, though, Clare’s Mom suggested meatloaf—which is something we’ve probably had only two or three times in the past ten years. My own comfort food is pasta—or macaroni as my Mom’s Italian family calls any kind of pasta.
I knew the general ingredients of meatloaf, but really had no idea what to do other than mush them together. I went over to the Food Network’s food.com and looked for some instruction. I found a recipe that claimed to be easy, but needed a few more ingredients than I had. It looked pretty good though, so I went shopping and got to work.
Here’s where more complaining starts. Am I slow or does everyone take a lot longer to make something than the “prep time” suggests? It may take Tyler Florence twenty minutes to put a meatloaf together, but it took me nearly forty-five.
Still Lost
I also spent some time this week on websites and message boards about Lost. I love how this show answers something and creates so many more questions in the process. How great was last night’s episode, brutha? Anyone else still watching?
Have a great weekend, everyone.
Somebody Likes Me
Anyone who comments that I’m “in the zone” and “the last couple of posts have been some of [my] best” deserves a freebie link. And Greg at hopeless cases did that earlier this week. Thanks, Greg.
Funny, I thought this blog jumped the shark a few months ago—mostly because of tired and repetitive posts like the next one.
Tired of Hearing This Yet?
This past week the temperature flirted above freezing and the sun even shone strong a couple days. The grass won over the melting snow again and I could almost smell spring coming. So what’s happening today? Snow. All day. Up to ten inches of it. After returning to school for one day, Clare has a snow day. If we have any more, she’ll probably still be in school in July.
Are you as tired of hearing me complain about winter as I am?
I Could Be a Newscaster, But Not If It Involved Science
After doing pretty well on the Presidential Quiz earlier this week, I went looking for some other online fun. I think I’ve taken this test before, but I never posted the results.
That’s right, there’s a reason I didn’t make it through organic chemistry—I can barely pass eighth grade science anymore.
I’m a lot better at anything involving history or geography. TravelPod has a geography quiz that I found on Facebook, and you can also play or get it here. I’m probably even better at anything artistic—according to this quiz, my brain is ninety percent wired for creativity.
Another quiz I found on Facebook was pretty cool in its accuracy. After I answered a few questions about how I pronounce certain words, the quiz determined I have a northern American accent typical of New York and western New England. Another version of that quiz is available here. This one called the western New England accent the “one that news networks go for.” Funny, I didn’t realize I had an accent at all. How about you?
Have a great weekend, everyone.
Thanks to the Writers Guild…
…for giving me the time to watch or re-watch some older shows on DVD. This week we’re watching Arrested Development. We also just watched the first season of 30 Rock again. I’m not a big fan of Alec Baldwin personally, but he’s hilarious on this show. Tina Fey is a riot too. She only added commentary to one of last season’s episodes on the DVD, but I’d watch a disc full of those if she made them.
I was just clued in by John at The Disney Blog that Tina Fey is Tinkerbell in this photo ad for Disney’s Year of a Million Dreams campaign. I love everything this woman does.
Thanks to Facebook…
…for hooking me up with a few dad blogging buddies and a couple other dad bloggers that I haven’t read much. I just created a Facebook group that's open to all other dad bloggers. I noticed that the moms had a group, so I figured why shouldn’t we? If you’re a dad blogger on Facebook, look it up and join. If you’re not on Facebook, no pressure, but why not? I just read somewhere (don’t make me look for it again) that the fastest growing demographic on Facebook is thirty and forty-somethings. That’s probably because the twenty-somethings and teens were all on there already.
Thanks to Mom…
…for making me obsessed with throwing some things out and saving some pretty unusual things. We’re not rat packers by any sense—I hate having clutter around. But I do have a few boxes filled with things I’ve saved as far back as grade school.
A recent conversation with my Mom showed me where I might be headed.
“Clare’s got four wiggly teeth,” I told her.
“Are they almost ready to fall out?” she asked.
“Just about. The tooth fairy’ll be coming to our house.”
“I’ve still got your baby teeth,” she said. “You want to see them sometime?”
My jaw dropped. I think I’m going to start throwing more out.
Have a great weekend, everyone.
Sadly, I won’t be there though.
I was asked to pass along some information about an event for bloggers and their kids in New York this Friday January 18. It’s “an exclusive blogger day event at the premier kids club of New York City” where “talented instructors are on hand during these events to answer questions and guide your children in fun and interesting activities. There will be complimentary drinks and snacks as well as wireless internet access. We invite the whole family to come blog, bounce, surf, and enjoy the afternoon.”
It actually sounds kind of fun. Check out this site for full details about the event including RSVP information. For more info on New York Kids Club, check out their promotional video here.
Let me know if you go. And tell them Clare’s Dad sent you.
January Thaw
It hit sixty degrees this week in New England. Thanks to the temperature and rain, most of our snow is melted. But that’s not really the kind of thaw I’m talking about. It’s more a thaw in my mood. I wouldn’t offically diagnose it seasonal depression, but this time of year usually brings me down. I’m fine through December because of the excitement of the holidays, but by January I’m ready for winter to end and the clocks to spring ahead again. It’s the cold (it was zero a couple mornings last week…that’s about -18 Celsius for the foreigners). It’s the dark mornings at the bus stop at 7 a.m. and the dark afternoons that begin around 5 p.m., even though the days are getting a bit longer already. It’s the dirty snow, the messy roads, the bare trees, the heavy coats and shoes that carry mud into the house. The extra weight from too many holiday dinners, Christmas cookies, and gingerbread and egg nog lattes probably doesn’t help either. In short, I hate January and February. Anyone else like this?
There are a couple highlights to look forward to though. With Clare now in first grade, we’re not taking a vacation this winter, but spring break is less than three months away. I’ve also found a couple other job prospects. My hopes aren’t up about the really good one I wanted, but I suppose it’s possible. Clare’s Mom’s big birthday is less than two weeks away too. I’m still trying to think of something really good (but not too expensive) to do with her and Clare. Any ideas? But be careful, she reads the blog.
The School Strikes Again
Clare’s school has ticked me off again. She came home with a note last night saying that her class is supposed to wear navy blue today for “Skittles Day.” There was no explanation of what Skittles Day is, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a navy blue Skittle anyway. The problem is that Miss Pink and Purple had nothing navy blue to wear—for a while she wouldn’t even wear jeans because they were a boy color. So, yesterday afternoon we took off to find her something. Ever try finding a girl’s shirt in navy blue? And a long sleeve one that’s in the stores in January but can also be worn in January? There was nothing. I tried to trick her into a getting a plain blue shirt that I found in the boys’ section, but she wouldn’t have it. In the end, we went with a short-sleeve blue polo with a long-sleeve white shirt under it. She looks pretty good in it, but can’t schools give more than eighteen hours notice when kids are supposed to wear something special? Is every school like this or just ours?
Orange You Glad…
Clare’s still taking karate and tonight she earns her orange belt. Orange will be her retirement color though. She’s giving up the gi for a tutu. In a couple weeks she’s starting ballet lessons. With the strictness at the school she’ll be going to, there are sure to be some fun blog posts about that. Stay tuned.
D + 1
According to Chris at Rude Cactus and Allisa at Life’s Little Adventures, yesterday was Official Delurker Day. I’m one day off, but if someone can make up Delurker Day then I can make up Delurker Weekend. What the heck, let’s just call it the start of Delurker Week for anyone who doesn’t get to this post until next week.
C’mon, post a comment. It’s a new year, isn’t it time to try new things? And if you delurk and have a blog I’ll make a promise. Comment on my blog and I’ll comment on yours. Who can pass up a deal like that?
Elmer to the Rescue
Clare had Monday off from school. We had some snow and ice overnight, but the roads were pretty clear by morning. I think our town was the only one in Connecticut to cancel school rather than just delay it. (I’m predicting that we’ll have a blizzard in April and they’ll have used up all their snow days.) Anyway, we spent the day running errands and then we built a gingerbread house.
Unlike last year, Clare had a pretty good sense of how she wanted to design the house. She followed a picture on the box and even asked me to help get the candies in all the right places. It really showed how she changed from a five year-old throwing candy at the house to a six year-old who wants everything in the right place. We should have put the house on the same square plate that we used last year, but I forgot we had it. Instead, we used a piece of cardboard from the box like the instructions said. What happened next’ll teach me not to always follow directions.
Clare had been decorating the living room and decided that the gingerbread house should be in there. Without asking for help, she picked it up off the kitchen counter. Then it happened. The cardboard bent, the house slipped, and it all fell to the floor breaking back into the pieces that we’d just put together.
I was going to yell at her for moving it too early and not asking for my help. But, Clare was crying so badly from breaking her masterpiece that all I could do was hug her and tell her we’d try to fix it.
Luckily, the sides and roof of the house hadn’t broken. I could put it back together, but I didn’t have much more of the icing that came with the kit and didn’t have the right ingredients to make more. I used the icing to hold the walls in place, then I finished it with glue. I thought that wood glue would be goopy enough to get where it needed to and be the best choice—wood, plants, food, they’re all related, right? The glue didn’t hold as well though and some of the pieces, especially the roof, slid out of place. Some of the candies on the roof fell inside and I just left them there—I was tired of working on this thing and just wanted it done.
It’s not such a bad gingerbread house. I think it’s still an improvement over last years—in some ways. Clare’s still proud of it. That’s all the matters, right?
Last Christmas
This isn’t about the Wham! song. (Sorry if I put that in your head.) It’s about the last Christmas that Clare may believe in Santa Claus.
A few months ago, someone (I don’t remember who so speak up if it was you) wrote a post about the “lasts” in our kids lives. We usually remember the firsts—steps, words, school days, lost teeth—but rarely the last time that they do anything as kids—things like the last diaper, the last bottle or sippy cup, the last meltdown in public (maybe there never is a last for that), the last time that we can easily pick them up and hold them in our arms. Before we even realize it, some of the things that we enjoy doing with our kids are gone.
I was in second grade when I realized that Santa didn’t come into our house on Christmas Eve and leave presents. Thanks to learning to read, questioning more, and the infamous “big kids” on the bus, children usually lose their belief in Santa sometime around 6, 7 or 8. (Kudos to any tweens or teens who’ve still got their parents buying presents from Santa. I’ve got a cousin who never admitted there wasn’t a Santa until he was 15 or 16. Once you can drive yourself to sit on Santa’s lap though, I think that tradition should be well over.)
So this year, knowing that Clare just might drop the “I know the truth” bomb on us next year, I’m treasuring every minute of this season. So, bad Christmas concerts and broken gingerbread houses aside, this is the best Christmas yet with Clare. I hope that she’ll always believe in the spirit of Santa and meaning of giving, but next year we might all believe in a little bit different, a little more grown up, kind of way.
Perfect?
I hate to toot my own horn (I don’t have to actually, Matthew did it for me) but I was honored with a Perfect Post Award for November. Matthew over at Child’s Play x2 thought that my post about how time slips past us while we’re watching the little changes in our kids deserved to be called perfect. Thanks, Matthew.
I don’t know about perfect, but once in a while I guess I write something that someone likes. We all do. That’s why I like reading about the little daily goings-on in your kids’ lives. Keep enjoying them.
Have a great weekend everyone. And Happy Hanukkah if you're celebrating. Spin the dreidel once for me.
We Knew You Were Coming
So we baked a cake. Two of them in fact. Clare’s been begging to use her Easy Bake Oven (which has probably been recalled), so we made these last night.
Believe me, they were as good as they look.
Any Club That Would Have Me as a Member
I think parent blogging and networking has really taken off. Is everyone else getting invitations to join new sites like Parentricity and cre8buzz? I’ve set up profiles at both of them, and I like them. But, long term, I’m not sure how much I can be on there.
There’s also a great dads forum at DadStaysHome.com. I joined earlier this year, but haven’t been on much lately. It isn’t a lack of interest, it’s just that the internet has, you know, so many pages. I’m also on Facebook, MyBlogLog and just about anything else I’ve found (except MySpace). All together, I could spend hours just surfing my own profiles. If only I could get paid to do that.
Anyone else feel overwhelmed by all the internet sites they’ve signed up for? Or am I the exception who joins just about everything that comes along?
In the Spirit…or Into the Spirits…One or the Other
Clare’s Christmas concert at school is tonight (I know, it’s still November) so we’re in the holiday mood. Not there yet? Go elf yourself. Seriously, at elfyourself.com you can turn into a dancing elf.
Clare, Clare’s Mom and I did it and the results are here. Now don’t be spreading us all over the internet or someone will have to pay.
Have a great weekend, everyone.
NaBloPoMo…and Mo…and Mo…and Mo
I’ve got a new reason for not posting so often. NaBloPoMo. National Blog Posting Month. (Shouldn’t it be International Blog Posting Month by the way?)
I know that NaBloPoMo means that I should be posting more, but I did that last year. A post a day is too much for me right now. But I have noticed that quite a few of you are doing it. So many in fact that if I miss a day of reading I come back to a few hundred posts in my Google reader. That doesn’t leave me much time to post anything here.
Good luck to everyone participating. But remember to not be too tough on the readers, okay?
Going to the Expert
“Why are you using my toothbrush?” Clare’s Mom asked me.
“I’m not. This is my toothbrush,” I answered.
“Not it’s not,” she said. “The dentist gave me that one.”
“Then I guess we’ve been using the same toothbrush. You should have gotten a girl color,” I suggested.
“It’s grey,” she answered. “Grey can be a girl color.”
“No it can’t,” I said. “You get pink and yellow. Or light purple. I’ll even give you red. But I get blue and green and grey. So, if I see a grey toothbrush, naturally I think it’s mine.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Clare’s Mom told me.
“Clare,” I called. When she came into the bathroom, I asked, “Is grey a girl color or a boy color?”
“It’s a boy color,” she answered and ran back out.
I rested my case.
Does your house have girl colors and boy colors?
Sorry Is Right
Clare and I have played Sorry! about four or five times so far this week. (Yeah, I’m really glad we’re done with Candyland and Hi Ho Cherry-O too.) And Clare has won every time. How am I supposed to teach her how to be a good loser if she never loses. By example? Screw that…I want to win too.
Have a great weekend, everyone. It’s starting to snow here…not much but it’s definitely snow. Did I ever mention how much I like summer?
I don’t have the usual Friday Talent Round-Up post today. There wasn’t much that I could think of to post. There was Clare’s birthday yesterday—a school day, a new dishwasher (we had to wash by hand for a couple weeks), getting ready for a family birthday party tomorrow, a couple presents, and dinner out at Clare’s choice of restaurants (at least she didn’t pick McDonald’s). But, despite a fun birthday, it all seems a bit mundane. (Does anyone else always think of Funt and Mundane when they hear that word?)
Honestly, none of my posts from the past few weeks seem that interesting to me. Nothing particularly funny, nothing particularly moving. I blame it on the fact that I’m busy with other things, but really I feel like nothing much important or blogworthy has happened.
Clare’s sixth birthday yesterday made me think differently. Six seems so old. Clare certainly isn’t an infant or toddler anymore, but at five she was still our baby—sometimes still needing us to pick out clothes, button buttons, zip zippers, open boxes, dress Barbies, read, cuddle, and just be hugged. None of that has changed overnight of course, but over a year’s time, our baby has become a kid.
Five was a great age. Clare learned to read, completely dressed herself more often, and carried on real conversations that were funny, intelligent and meaningful—sometimes all at the same time. The breakdowns and temper tantrums happened less often too. Six will be great too I’m sure. But before we know it, she’ll be a girl of ten, twelve or fifteen.
That happens so often, doesn’t it? That a parent looks back and wonders how their baby became a young woman or man? Where did the time go? But we all know the answer. Time happens every day…at about the rate (Einstein be damned) of one minute per minute.
It’s the ordinary, mundane hours of every day when our kids are growing. It’s happening when they no longer ask us to button buttons, zip zippers or tie shoes. It’s when they stop coloring scribbles and start coloring in the lines. It’s when they decide that they won’t be a princess or pirate for Halloween again this year or pick cheerleader or ghost instead of the cute pumpkin or bear costume that Mom thinks would be so cute. It’s when they stop wanting to wear a costume to the supermarket in November and care about how they look. It’s when they remember to say please and thank you without being reminded. It’s when they remember to stop and look both ways before trying to pull us out into the street. It’s when they learn how to count money, tell time, and know when their favorite show is on TV. It’s when they’d rather watch Hannah Montana than the Wiggles. It’s when they sit still for chapter books. It’s when they can spell, tell stories with a beginning and an end, and use four or five syllable words. It’s when they don’t want a kiss or hug before school in front of their friends. It’s when they stop needing us—and wanting us—all of the time.
When we ask five or ten years from now where the time went, the answer will be that it happened every day in these little changes. Little changes that we sometimes didn’t even notice or acknowledge. I’ve missed some myself, but the next time that I see a change or that Clare does something for the first time without my help—like buttoning the cuffs on her school shirt—I’ll know that she’s that much closer to growing up. Yes, it’s mundane and probably not blogworthy, but it’s important. It’s important and so, wonderfully, mundane.
I voted today. And believe me, the pickings were pretty slim. Did you?
In school today, Clare had an assembly to learn about elections and to commemorate Veterans Day which is this Sunday. Clare said that they showed war helmets from World War I, II and III. I hope she’s got that wrong.
I added some blogroll links today too. Check out some that you haven't seen before. I also took out a few out that haven’t been updated in a few months. If I took yours out and you’re still planning to blog, let me know and I’ll add you back.
That’s all. I'm off to watch local election coverage. It’ll be incredibly exciting. And, yeah, I’m being sarcastic.
Thanks to everyone who commented on the post about using real names and pictures on a blog. It is a lot to think about. As I wrote to someone though, statistically it’s probably far more dangerous to take a kid to the mall than to post a picture on the internet. And to paraphrase what he wrote back, our kids will be so accustomed to having information about them on the web, not to mention Facebook or MySpace or whatever’s popular in a few years, that it might not even matter to them. Still, to the extent she can, I’d like Clare to control what’s out there about her. Maybe I’ll just keep blogging about her until she tells me it bothers her—and then I’ll change the password so she can’t figure it out.
Party On
Clare’s sixth birthday is in the beginning of November. But, because of early November weekends already being booked—and because we didn’t want to schedule around Halloween parties next weekend—we’re having a party for her school friends tomorrow.
For the first time in a couple years, the birthday theme won’t be princesses. Clare wanted a Hawaiian party. So, we bought up leis, bright plastic sunglasses, tropical fruit-flavored candy, and ordered four dozen (it’s a big class) cupcakes with hibiscus (could the plural be hibiscuses?) on them. We’re even having it at the YMCA so the kids can go swimming.
Check back in a few days to see if we survived the party.
Chores
I’ve still got a few things to pick up for the party tomorrow. And it’s raining. I could complain, but not after reading this great post by Matthew over at Childs Play x2. His southern Californian two-year old twins don’t remember ever seeing rain. When he looked at it through their eyes, they all enjoyed it more.
If they want to see snow, Matthew, send them out this way in a couple months. And have them bring shovels.
Have a great weekend, everyone. Aloha.
With Clare’s picture in the newspaper this past weekend, that makes twice in two months. She also had her picture in the paper last year, but it was a wide group shot and I didn’t post anything about it. In a small town, it takes stories like the fire department going to the school to make up a few pages of news.
Posting Clare’s picture got me thinking again—like so many of you do too—about whether I really should be sharing real names and photos on this blog. Dan at All That Comes With It had a good post about this a week or so ago. We all know the story because it’s similar to what most of us have done: just over two years ago I started this blog thinking it would be fun and that maybe I’d get a few people to read and comment. I neglected the blog for a long time too. Now, after posting more regularly for almost a year, I’ve got over 20,000 hits.
I can’t really go back and change Clare’s name in all of the posts to The Girl or Blondie or PinkyPoo or anything anonymous like that. I’ve put Clare’s name in the website url and blog title—and if I changed that I’d lose all of my links not to mention any name recognition that the blog might have. I suppose I could transfer the blog to a new url and give it a new name, but I’d still want a link at the old site. That and the old site never really goes away unless I delete it or block it.
So, I’ve decided not to change anything…for now. In a year or two though, I just might block the blog to invited readers only. Of course, I’d let in anyone who I know from commenting. Some readers would go away, I’m sure. But I also don’t want Clare’s preschool through early grade school years published for the world to see. She deserves to grow up without friends being able to find out when she was sick or scared or just acting silly. She can let people in on those things when and if she wants to.
All this thinking comes at the same time as I’m trying to get more recognition for myself professionally. I’ve got a website and I’m mailing and emailing people around my state and area about my work. I’ve even set myself up on LinkedIn and Facebook. I made a MySpace page too, but haven’t done anything with it and don’t have any friends there—I’ll probably just let it go.
As I’ve said before, anyone who might be interested is just a couple clicks and searches away from finding out a lot more information about me. I don’t have that common a name—from what I can find only a couple guys in the UK, one in the Cayman Islands, and a few in the US share my first and last name.
So, how do I publicize myself without drawing too much attention back here so Clare can stay somewhat hidden? I’m still working on it. Blocking the blog at some point in the future is part of it. Not linking to this blog on my LinkedIn and Facebook pages is part of it too. But I still want connections and friends at those sites, so I may request a connection with some of you if I find you there (feel free to do the same if you find me). So, if you get a friend request and you’re not quite sure who it is, it may be me—Clare’s Dad—hiding in plain sight.
We had a busy weekend. And, I suppose, I’m over the blog blahs…but I still don’t have a lot of time to blog. When Clare was home for the summer, I could sneak in some blogging while she was vegging out watching TV. But now that she’s back in school, I’ve got better (okay…other) things to do rather than put myself where I can see the TV and the computer screen at the same time. (Guess where I am now by the way.) I’ll still be around, but I won’t be blogging as often.
Anyway, on to the weekend. On Saturday we got lost…literally. We drove out to a farm and toured their cornstalk maze. The time seemed to go by pretty quickly in there, but Clare’s Mom said we were walking for thirty or forty minutes. And, for at least ten minutes of that, we were going in circles trying to find our way. I had been afraid that there would be too many people going through and we’d end up just following a line, but that didn’t happen. The maze was so big (nearly two miles in twists) that we weren’t following anyone. We just ran into a few other lost folks occasionally…and told them not to follow us.
On Sunday, I took Clare to see The Wizard of Oz on stage at a nearby community theater. I have to admit that I’m not a big fan of this show or the movie, but Clare loved it. It’s a pretty involved production to pull off, especially for a community theater, but it was pretty well done. The Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion, Wicked Witch of the West and Good Witch of the North were especially great at their parts. Toto was pretty good too. I’m just glad that I’m not working at a theater doing this show—seeing it every night would drive me nuts.
Before I go, thanks to everyone who sympathized with my blog burnout. Thanks, too, to who everyone shares my opinion of Heroes. Go camaraderie.
Big Date Week
Clare’s Mom was away overnight for work on Thursday, so Clare and I had a date night out. I took her to one of her favorite restaurants—Chez Ronald. (One of the fun facts on her Happy Meal bag was that astronauts grow up to two inches in space. That might explain why Lance Bass wanted to go and Major Tom didn’t want to come back.)
Tonight, Clare went to kids’ night at the YMCA and Clare’s Mom and I went out. We went to a great new restaurant (it’s actually been open almost a year, but it was new to us). I could get used to having a couple dates every week—if only I could get Clare to pick up the tab once in a while.
Confessions of a TV Addict
Many new and returning shows had their season premieres on TV this week. Since I’m trying to cut back, there are only a few that I watched—Ugly Betty, The Office, How I Met Your Mother and Law & Order: SVU are some of my favorites. A new one I liked was Dirty Sexy Money. I'll throw a real confession in here too—I may be the only TV junkie who doesn’t like Heroes. I watched a couple episodes last season and just never got interested. Am I the only one?
Blog Burnout
I don’t know if it was because I felt sick earlier in the week or something else, but my interest in blogging hit a low over the past few days. It may just be because I’m spending more time working on other things. There’s no immediate danger that I’ll stop blogging, but I may slow down—especially while I focus my efforts on work. Anyone else get the blog burnout occasionally? I doubt it’s just me.
Have a great weekend, everyone.
I’m not really troubled. I’m whiny. But Whiny Tuesday is a lousy title. So is Troubled Tuesday for that matter, but it’s the best I’ve got.
For the past two days, I’ve felt awful—not so bad when I wake up, but then a miserable headache on the right side of my head. I think it’s a sinus thing—I probably need a good decongestant. The naps are working out a little too though—it’s probably just the lying down that makes it better.
Christmas catalogs are coming already. Some of the same ones whose mailing lists I tried getting off of last year. Aren’t these companies interested in saving trees and money? When I want something from them I go right to their websites without looking at their catalogs anyway.
I went over to MyBlogLog yesterday. So I now I need a Yahoo! account to sign in? I must have account names and passwords at over fifty different sites—that I can remember—it’s probably a lot more than that. And I don’t have exactly the same names and passwords everywhere—to try to have some kind of security. Can't we just sign in with our eyeballs or something already?
Marcel Marceau died this past weekend. I’ve got nothing to say about that. Brett Somers from one of my favorite game shows died just over a week ago too. Now she can join Gene Rayburn and Charles Nelson Reilly in __________.
Obviously I don’t have much to say about anything today. I just figured that rather than bore you away with no post, I’ll drive you away with a boring post. It may be time to find some ridiculous internet quiz and post the results. Better yet, why don’t you do one and post your results? Let me know in a comment and I’ll match whatever quizzes readers do and post my results later in the week.
They mean everything and they mean nothing. I’m talking about those awards that bloggers pass around to each other to recognize being awesome, funny, thought provoking, or just plain nice.
There are no limits to the numbers of awards given. What’s more, I’d continue blogging even if everyone stopped reading. My blogging is for Clare, so she can have some record, years from now, of things going on in our lives when she was young. The only recognition I’d like is maybe a “thanks” or “that was cool, Dad” from her someday—if she doesn’t hate me for publicizing our lives.
That said, the awards are pretty cool aren’t they? And so is the recognition. Let’s face it—I may be writing primarily for Clare, but if it were only for Clare, I’d keep it in a file on my computer. I like that I’m writing a blog. I like the look it has. I like that people read it and comment. I like that I feel that I’m part of a community of dads and moms who write about their families. And I like getting awards.
A couple weeks ago, Em from Notes from My Corner bestowed me with the Blogger Reflection Award. Em is a fellow New England dad with a blog that I found only a few weeks ago.
The Blogger Reflection Award is given to bloggers “who have been an encouragement, a source of love, impacted you in some way, and have been a Godly example to you. Bloggers who, when you reflect on them you get a sense of pride and joy…of knowing them and being blessed by them.”
Wow. I’m not sure exactly how I impacted Em or what I encouraged him to do, but I hope it wasn’t illegal. (He did have that recent questionable romp with a bear.) The description is a lot to live up to, but I’ll take it to mean that the award should go to bloggers who are respected as good people, good writers, and good neighbors in the blogosphere.
These are the rules that go with the award:
Picking people to pass anything like this on to is the worst part of these things. It isn’t that I don’t know five bloggers who deserve it, it’s that I know far more than five. There are some that I read regularly, and others who I don’t get to often enough. Some I’ve been reading since before I started blogging myself, some I found only recently. You all deserve it, but these are my five:
Alissa at Life’s Little Adventures tells it like it is. She doesn’t try to be funny or smart or likeable, she just is. She’s even admitted that she breaks the “rules” of blogging. If she’s had a boring or miserable day, she’ll tell you. If her boys are driving her to nearly want to give them away, she’ll tell you. Her photos are great and the stories of Drew and Nick are sometime hilarious. She’s one of the most honest and sincere bloggers I read.
Above Average Joe is a good guy despite being a citizen of Red Sox Nation and that state north of Connecticut. He finds the balance perfectly of letting us into his family and not revealing any details at all. I wouldn’t know his kids, The Champ or Peanut, if I stepped over them at a Yankees game, but they’re a couple of my favorite kids in the blogosphere. (Okay, all of your kids are my favorites—after Clare of course.) Joe’s a funny guy who isn’t afraid to show his sensitive, loving dad side too.
Phil of A River Runs Through It is one of our senior citizens. No, he’s not lining up for senior coffee at McDonald’s (as far as I know), but he has been a dad blogger since 2004—that’s quite a while in the blogosphere. I read his blog before I had one of my own, and he was one of the first commenters to welcome me here. He’s a proud at-home teacher to his son and a stay-at-home dad (to that son and a younger daughter) in an area of the country where there aren’t so many dads at the playground. You could probably say he's one of the pioneers.
I found Bacchus at Family of Choice not so long ago. He’s written for a couple years about the process of adopting a son with his partner. This summer, Baby R (due for a blog name change now that he’s two) legally became part of the family. This is another blog with honest, funny, but sometimes just run-of-the-mill-here’s-what’s-goin’-down writing. And you’ve got to respect a guy who lets his blog readers redecorate his bathroom.
Finally, Rob at How About Two?, like a few other dad bloggers, began blogging last fall while his wife was still pregnant—pregnant with twins as the blog title suggests. In February of this year, Rob blogged about his wife’s delivery, and—eleven days later—about the loss of their son. Life, of course, goes on despite whatever crap is thrown at us. Rob’s blogging right through and about one of the worst things a parent can face, and emerging as a great blogger dad to his daughter, is definitely encouraging. I haven’t been following every post on his blog, but I’ve meant to give him a blog “shout out” for a while. This is a great opportunity to do that.
That’s it. Five bloggers. And an award for me. Thanks again, Em. I’ll be keeping it on the shelf over in the sidebar along with my other pieces of flair.
Ask and You Shall Receive
After I whined in a post on Friday morning about the cool weather coming and my missing summer, the temperature went up. (I guess if I’d bothered to read any weather forecasts, I might have know that was coming.) It actually hit 90 here in Connecticut on both Saturday and Sunday.
Just in case my whining did have anything to do with it, I’ll start whining about hating snow soon too.
Click Outta Here
Sure, I’m glad to have you here reading my blog, but I’ve written a couple other things in the last week or so that you can take a look at too. Go check out Clever Parents and The Whinery.
I Hear the Boss Is a %**$&#^
In the past few weeks, I’ve mentioned that I’m giving up the stay-at-home Dad gig to find work. Thanks to all of you who’ve wished me luck with that. What I haven’t mentioned is that my preference is to be my own boss. I’m hoping this’ll work out and give me more flexibility and control over my schedule. Since I have no specific skills, I’ll just be calling myself “consultant.”
In an effort to find some separation between my blogging, personal and professional lives, I won’t go into any more detail here. But, I will say that it wouldn’t take much detective work to figure out what I’ll be doing…or trying to do. I suppose though, if you’re really losing sleep wondering what else I do with my life, I could tell you. Send an email and I’ll let you in on it. And who knows where a job lead could come from, right?
