The Newest Soccer Dad

I'm sneaking out of work a little early today. Goobs has his first soccer practice this evening and I want to be there for all of it. He and I went shopping over the weekend and we bought his shin guards, special soccer socks, and a new soccer ball. We had another soccer ball, but The Bun commandeered that one and has not let her brother near it. Besides, he loves his new leather ball.

He didn't like the shin guards when we first slipped them on with his new socks. We've gotten him to the point where he doesn't complain when he puts them on. I think he'll be fine once he gets started tonight.

I realize this is soccer, but for kids his age it's more along the lines of a herd of kids chasing the ball together. Many moons ago and 25 pounds ago his dad was a college soccer player. Our team sucked, but we were a great bunch of guys that had a good time. But...I don't want to be the dad that gets crazy when the team just is a crazy bunch of arms and legs that looks like a giant cloud of dust chasing a ball. I am going to have to plant myself in the lawn chair, zip my lip and cheer. I also don't want to be the dad who rides the referee unmercifully. I've seen it and it's ugly. Not only that, since this is a group of four and five year olds, it's not appropriate for me to try to direct things or shout or do anything else stupid on the sidelines. My job is to shut up...cheer nicely and clap. I'm sure that J will remind me of my role in the grand scheme of things as a new soccer parent.

Oh...and now we have the vehicle that can hold a crapload of kids...we qualify as soccer parents. How cool is that?

"Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life son..."

Angie of Barbed and Wired was celebrating since she passed her oral defense for her Masters. She's a happy camper...well, I'm a happy camper too. I just got my grade for my Ed Law class. I am ecstatic...Damn, I surpise myself sometimes! Okay, I was fat, drunk, and stupid (reference to Animal House) when I was an undergrad. Now, I'm just a little chunky, not drunk, and a little less stupid. I got my "A" in the class so I'm happy.

I called J and told her about my grade and asked her if we could have "happy food" for dinner. She asked me what "happy food" was and I answered with "I don't know...just something happy since I got my A. I think she thinks I'm mentally challenged for making that silly request. Hell, I want a victory cigar, but my ears are so damned screwed up, but I don't think I can do that. I have to settle for "happy food..." whatever the hell that is. Right now, anything would be happy food...it just can't have sugar in it. Now that I think of it...a Donut would be just plain good happy food right now...stop it Steve...you can't have the food of the devil!!! It's funny that I work with a lot of people training in the field of baking...I've been avoiding the baking lab for a few weeks now. I smell it, but ohhhhh...I can't go in there. This new eating thing is driving me crazy...Can I possibly stick my head in a feedbag of m & m's...or what about raiding this place I know of called "Muddy Paws cheesecakes"...? Aaaaaahhhh this is crazy. I can't be arrested for Driving while eating a candy bar can I?

Okay...the rant is over. I'm better now.

Confessions of a guy who was a scardy-cat kid

You know how you want your kids not to be wimps...? I have to admit that I really want Goobs to sleep in his own bed. He creeps in the middle of the night and somehow we wake up with a little boy in our bed in the morning. He sometimes sneaks into his little sister's room and sleeps on the floor. He's basically afraid at night. I lay down with him, talk to him every night and we say prayers together. It seems calming for him, but he still ends up sleeping somewhere else other than his room.

Here's the confession that I have to make. I was the same way. I shared a bedroom with my little brother. Sometimes I would wake up and feel scared. I would slide my bed over next to my sleeping little brother for some comfort. So, I guess the next time I get irritated about my son's need to feel secure at night, I've got to remember my own feelings as a little boy.

You know...it's good when you have those little lightbulb moments. It reminds me to go back and think about how I felt when I was scared, upset, or out of sorts, which was a lot. Hopefully, I'll be able to identify with my kids more.

Friends, Romans, Countrymen...lend me your ears!!!

So here I am with liquid dripping from my ears and eating antibiotics. My ears have been bugging me for a while, but I didn't pay too much attention to them. Well, this afternoon it was just too much to handle. I trotted over to the "minute clinic" at the downtown Target. Well, I found out I have a double ear infection. I come to expect that from my kids...but from me???

So they gave me anti biotic eardrops and antibiotics to take. I want my ears to feel better now. I woke up in the middle of the night with them hurting and didn't sleep for three hours. Hopefully, the pain will go down. Grrrr. My patience with my family is probably a little shorter than normal. I'll just grit my teeth and smile. They're patient with me, so I suppose it's my turn to be patient...

As far as Bun's pooping in the potty chair...well, let's temper the celebration a little bit. She has pooped in her pull up a couple of times since then. But the really fun thing is that she takes her pullups off and pees all over. Yesterday she peed on two separate pair of girls dress shoes.

We went to my grandmother's funeral yesterday. She was a kindly woman, who loved helping others. I wish that I would have been a better grandson. I wish I would have taken more time. I wish a lot of things...I guess it's a little late for that. My brother and I were pallbearers. It was a beautiful service and we said goodbye. I was sitting and thinking about what it means to be family member. I was blessed with a good family. I have to take part and give more...listen more...take more time...Be present...curb my natural ADD spaciness. But in the end...talk is cheap...My grandmother knew talk was cheap. She walked the walk. There was a lot of dysfunction in our little tribe, but she just chugged right on through that. Maybe she did ignore the 800 lb gorilla in the living room sometimes, but she was always there for others. My grandma rocked and it's high time I realized that.

Oh and one more thing. I got rid of my old beater car! My 16 year old niece is the proud owner of an ugly, dented, rusted, blue Olds Cutlass Ciera. It's out of my garage and I am sooooo happy! She's overjoyed and I am just as happy being rid of that old metallic millstone around my neck. Whooo hoooo!

Important Update!

I was roused from my semi-comotose state at the computer (reference my last post...) by J hollering and cheering. I stepped away from my computer and went into the hallway in time to see The Bun pooping in her potty chair. This was the first time she did it!!! We had a short celebration and now I'm back in front of the computer...

But...She did it! My little girl is a big girl now!!!

Help me I'm drowning in FERPA

This is just a quick break I'm taking today. I'm at home finishing up my final project for my Educational Law class. I'm researching how the Secretary of Education is proposing changes tothe Family Educational Right to Privacy Act (lovingly referred to as FERPA by us educational admin geeks). I just got done reading this report that was big enough to choke a mule and about as exciting as watching paint dry. Now, I've got to collect my thoughts and write this ungodly masterpiece o' crap. Please send me happy vibes...I really do love writing papers, but this one just is a big ol' cramp in my brain.

The class is tomorrow, so I'm okay for time...but I am hating life right now.

smoke alarm follies

Okay...here's a little bit of advice for you homebuyers out there. If you can help it, don't buy a home with smoke alarms on vaulted ceilings. They're a real pain in the butt to change batteries. Actually, after my fumbling attempts-and I have to admit I put the damned battery in backwards (the print was too small for me to read about positive and negative posts for two volt batteries), J jumped up there, with her superior fine motor skills and got the job done. All in all, it wasn't fun. We had to use a gorilla ladder in the livingroom and both of us don't like climbing ladders...That said, hopefully this battery lasts for a hell of a long time.

I do have to compliment Goobs. He loves the Flyboat so much, he won't eat cheerios in a bag while in his car seat...whoops, I mean booster seat. What a good little boy! He's graduated now to a booster seat. Our little man is getting bigger and now is finally out of the five point restraint system. The Bun, by virtue of her size, may be in car seat until she's in junior high... But...she's finally growing. She's still tiny compared to other kids her age, but I think she's closing the gap by a little bit. I really think that her stature has forced her to be fiery and assertive, so maybe it's better that she's small.

Well, gotta get back to the salt mines...Later!!!

Here's the photo

The Eternal Search for Balance

This is an interesting type of travel that is sometimes used in the Philippines. The locals call this augmented motorcycle thingee "skylab" in reference to the long fallen satellite. It is a motorcycle with a 2"x6" board laid out across the back of the seat. If you look at the thing from an overhead view, it does sort of resemble the outline of skylab, thus the name. If you look closely, you can see that there are eight people on this vehicle. The thing that amazed me about that is that our new vehicle-The Flyboat, only seats seven. It's pretty darned big, as far as I'm concerned...and then you see this little motorcycle, precariously balanced, with eight people aboard. That's really amazing to me!

Balance has always been something that I've worked on having in my life...but it's been hard. It's always been a case of too much of one thing or not enough of another. As parents, J and I teeter back and forth, somehow getting things done. I'm amazed how we function...but things do get done. Sometimes quickly...sometimes slowly...but they get done. I have to credit J for the balance we have. She is amazing because I think I just suit up and show up and she's the true brains behind the operation. I don't tell her how much I love her and respect her.

So, Jennifer...if you're reading this, just know that your husband does worship the ground that you walk on. Yes, I'm samok...I'm disorganized...My ADD is a real pain in your butt...but I'll suit up and show up for you as long as I draw breath. Someday, we may even get to ride something like skylab and enjoy the scenery...Okay...you won't even let me ride a jeepney without supervision...so maybe that's out too.

To The Flyboat!!!

Okay, I realize this title really is a little cryptic, but what the heck. The big new is that we bought the Ford Freestyle. I didn't think I'd feel this way about a new vehicle, but I'm happy as a clam...even though we have to start making car payments again next month. J said I was beaming all weekend about the car/van, or whatever you want to call it. This is weird because she is the primary driver of the thing. She's taking the kids to daycare/preschool and I will be taking the little red Dodge a half mile down the road to the bus station every morning. Of course, I will be driving the Dodge to my teaching job three evenings a week also, so it'll still getting a little mileage. It's basically her car...but I'm the one that feels happiest...weird???

Back to the whole "Flyboat" thing. The kids are big fans of Wonderpets. I suppose J and I are also fans of the intrepid trio, since we see the show too. Goobs and The Bun have started to memorize the dialogue between the characters. As you can see from the picture that Lenny, Tuck, and Ming Ming travel around in this cool thing called "The Flyboat." Since we're always singing or saying lines from the show and the Wonderpets are stars in our home, we thought it was only appropriate that we need the new Ford Freestyle "The Flyboat." Now, whenever we go out to the car together, we all shout..."To the Flyboat!"

How exciting is that...?

Here's the Town and Country

Whoops, the pictures are backward as far as size goes. The Town and Country seems pretty typical as far as minivans go. But...it's got the DVD player, so I'm seriously thinking about how it might just keep Goobs and The Bun pacified on those long trips when they will be fighting.

Here's the Freestyle

The Freestyle seats seven and I I think it looks cool...

What do you guys think???

It looks like my researching spouse has come up with two options for us. After looking at price and performance online, she's decided that we need to look at two kinds of vehicles...A. The 2005 Ford Freestyle and B. The 2006 Chrysler Town and Country. Each of the vehicles has about 30,000 miles on them, but each has pros and cons. They both come with ABS brakes and passenger side airbags. Ratings online make them pretty much comparable as far as safety, performance, and dependabiltiy, so we're in a bit of a quandry. The big thing that the Town and Country has that the Freestyle doesn't have is a DVD player, otherwise known as the "silencer of the masses in the back." The thing in the Freestyle's favor is that it doesn't look like a minivan. J doesn't want to look like she's driving a minivan...I guess it's a vanity thing... Honestly, I could care less. If it has decent gas mileage, is safe, looks fairly decent, and gets us from point A to point B, I don't care...Okay, I do have one requirement. I want good tunes for us...so, a good stereo is a must. If we can get it with an IPOD dock, it would be really rockin', but I'm not going to whine if it doesn't have one.

What do you guys think? Any advice for us. We'll be test driving tomorrow. I can't wait!!! I'm getting rid of my piece of crap car. Of course, I'll be driving our little red Dodge, but it's still better than my rust bucket. J will get the new vehicle...but gosh...I am excited to get ride of the Olds. Whoopee!!!

Any advice anyone has about choices would really be welcome!!!

It's been a while

Yes, it's been a while. Work and life have conspired to make life complicated and so I haven't been blogging with regularity. I've got a little time today, so I'm getting back on the old blogging horse and taking a ride.

I found this Sesame Street picture parodying "The Boss" and I thought it was kind of cool, so I thought to myself "Self...why don't you stick this on your blog..." and I did. No particular reason, but I did it.

So...what's happening these days? Well, we've just finished another first week of class and it's been exhausting. I starting teaching night classes again on Monday, so my busy life just continues. I've got two weeks left in my Ed Law class. I've got a couple of assignments to finishand I have to present a final project on Saturday the 19th. I love my life, but my God I'd like take a little bit of a break and just lay on a beach. Our little Dodge is getting a older by the day, so it's time for us to get another primary family vehicle. J absolutely loves researching this and has spent countless hours online looking for the best deal. She's pretty doggone good at it, so she's taking that deal over. I do sort of feel that I am abdicating some sort of manly duty since it's dealing with vehicles, but honest to God, I think she's probably better at car shopping than I am.

We had our second round of parent/teacher conferences last week. I can't believe this, but Miss Andrea is telling me that Goobs is good in the classroom and is a leader. It's not that I don't doubt my son at all, but he and his sister are a little on the wild side at home. Miss Andrea did say that his language skills are high and he has no problem expressing himself. I noticed a few weeks ago that he was using irregular verbs in the past tense. He said "Sami broke my toy," which made me swell up with pride-my boy is getting it!!! IThe truth is that I am really proud of my son. I am waiting to see how conferences will go with The Bun. She might be a little more of a problem in the classroom...she's the stubborn one who likes to tease her brother. That's not for a few years yet, so she'll have time...and so will we.

Well, I've got stuff to do, so I'll say goodbye for now. Hopefully, I'll be able to post tomorrow.