Tag Archives: Thoughts

A day off

Thoughts,

Does it get much better than a day off in the middle of the week?  And now, don’t take this wrong, but I have the day off…alone!  I don’t want to have all of my days off alone, but every now and then it surely is nice!  So, what to do today?  I am currently in Panera eating way too much sweet breakfast food!  Panera is my favorite place to eat.  It’s not that it’s an amazing place or anything.  It’s good but it just seems to hit my palette just right…that and free wi-fi.

I have to take Abigail to the orthodontist this morning.  That will take an hour or two and I enjoy hanging with her as she waits.  She doesn’t get nervous but I am certain that she would rather be in school.  Now, Isaac, on the other hand….I think he would rather get teeth pulled than be in school.  It’s funny how different kids can be.  Emily and I are both the oldest in our families and were/are high-achievers (are you allowed to say that or is it arrogant?  Oh, like I care).  Usually younger kids are a bit more “flexible” (though both of our siblings are high achievers too).  With Isaac and Abigail, it’s the opposite.  Isaac wants to do as little as he possibly can to get by while Abigail cries if she misspells a single word on a homework paper.

It’s so nasty outside that I may just go home and work on the house after I return Abigail to school.  I think that is what I like most about days like these…I can do anything I want.  I suppose I am pretty thankful for my life too.  I am pretty thankful to have been given the ability and the opportunity to do many different things.  Related to the surprise that I mentioned yesterday, I was talking to a friend who is a part of the surprise.  We were talking about things that used to seem hard until we learned what “it” really required.  She said, “well it isn’t surgery”  I sort of laughed and replied that I had done surgery…several times in fact.  You may think I am full of it, but I have in fact performed several surgeries in real operating rooms with real anesthesia and sterile instruments, etc.  You’ll have to wait for another day to hear that story though.  Pique your interest any?  I hope so!  See you tomorrow.  I have goofing off to do today!

It’s been busy…but with what?

Thoughts,

We have been pretty sketchy around here lately.  I haven’t found myself into any interesting projects.  I haven’t gone anywhere too unusual or done anything interesting.  I haven’t even licked a bell in weeks.  I can’t figure out what we have been doing actually.  Work is pretty typical.  We have started writing iPhone apps which has been interesting.  I have been writing computer programs for quite awhile but I have to tell you, as polished as Apple’s final products are, their software development tools are an atrocity!  That’s all I have to say about that…  But what else have we been doing?  The kids are into some things but not a crazy amount of stuff.  Oh well…

We have been working on something else since the end of September too.  Well, really we have been mostly waiting since the end of September.  I still want credit though as I have been stressing and irritated through a large part of that time trying to make things happen.  I can’t share any details yet, but when it happens (and it appears that it will happen soon), I will have tons to write about and I am SOOOOOO excited!  Piqued your interest any?  I hope so…

Though I typically hate winter, I noticed that the only saving grace of the season is once again available in stores…Cadbury eggs make life worth living in the winter.  This is one time when I am glad marketing folks jump the gun on holiday preparations.  I also like Reese’s peanut butter eggs.  I would take a picture, but…well….I already ate my peanut butter egg.  Anyhow, does it get any better than this?

The magical medicinal magnificent Cadbury cream egg!

There is not too much else going on friends.  We are still alive here in West-by-God-Virginia and are diligently preparing for the next big mess of snow and ice and what-not-signs-of-the-apocalypse.  We got milk and eggs and bread last night (so we can make french toast if we get trapped in our house, of course) so we will make it through!  I hope all is well in your neck of the woods!  And don’t forget…Ground Hog Day is only a week away!

Why are we off today?

Thoughts

I was tucking Abigail into bed last night and reminded her that she could sleep in and enjoy her morning.  She remembered that it was Martin Luther King, Jr day.  She asked, “Jr means there was someone else with that name.  Who was that?”  I told her what I knew about her father and how MLK Jr was also a Southern black preacher (like his father) who led a movement to gain civil rights for black people 50-60 years ago.  We talked about Rosa Parks on the bus in Alabama and how brave she was to remain seated in her seat.  We talked about how badly some white people treated black people, abusing or killing them for a stray look or a misstep or just for fun.  I think she knew a lot of the information we discussed but we talked pretty plainly about how important it is to celebrate the bravery of the white and black pioneers of the Civil Rights movement.

I love where I grew up and I am proud to have come from a small town.  It’s funny though…we were monocolor and in some ways were so incredibly far apart away from race issues.  There was no diversity though so it was not an issue.  While I never saw race riots or first-hand discrimination or anything even close, I heard plenty of racial slurs and stereotypes and if anyone had ever even seen a person of color, it might have been different.  I didn’t really think much of it at the time as I knew not a single non-white person until I was in high school.  But for Isaac and Abigail, they don’t even comprehend racism.  That is not to say that it does not exist today, but I am so thankful that in their lives and experiences in their school, it seems to be absent.  I truly think that they no more understand hating someone for the color of their skin than hating someone because they are left handed or blonde.

As Abigail and I were finishing our conversation, she said, “Thanks Dad for answering all of my questions.”  (Yes, she said it just like that)  Thinking ahead to her preteen years, I assured her that she could always ask me any question and she would never be in trouble for curiosity.  “Well Dad, there is one more thing then…I have always wondered how cars work…”

The call came at 5:15

Thoughts, WV, ,

That’s 5:15 in the morning.  Or maybe it was even a tad bit earlier.  I am not sure.  You see, I was ASLEEP!  Oh, I complain and all but I am thankful that the school system uses an automated system to call everyone when school is cancelled.  We live in the armpit where WV, KY and OH all join so if we had to watch the scrolling thing on tv, we end up waiting a long time for them to roll back around to WV schools.  Did you like how I used armpit there?  I am not sure how else to describe it.  Let’s just say that border area is a really nice smelling, freshly cleaned (and maybe even shaved) armpit.  Maybe like Sandra Bullock’s armpit or something.  Anyhow, it’s a weird boundary so everyone in all three states watches the same tv stations waiting to see if their school is cancelled.

Ok, back to the call…the call came in at 5:15ish.  Emily normally gets up at 5:30 so she wasn’t too messed up by the call.   I tend to get up an hour later.  It works well for us.  Today, however, when she has the chance to go back to bed, she kept bugging me to haul my butt out of bed early and get out the door so she could go back to sleep.  Snow days for me mean that I get up earlier than normal.

Of course, Abigail was up (because the child never sleeps in) so it was sweet when I was getting ready to walk out the door.  She grabbed onto me and said, “do you have to go to work?  Don’t you get a snow day?”  She really didn’t want to let me go.  That’s pretty sweet and almost worth the pain of being run out of the house early by my wife.

We’re having a pretty good snow right now but I suspect we are nothing compared to NYC and Boston.  Once again, I am glad I live in West-by-God-Virginia!

Thank you Mr Williams

Thoughts,

I may be the only person, but do any of you dear readers remember your Dad or Grandpa with a cup and a brush on the bathroom sink that they used for shaving?  My Dad had one that he used to shave but it always seemed so old-timey.  I started shaving when I was 13 (I think) and there was no way I was going to use that old fashioned mess.  Oh no, I was all about the sleek gel in the glamorous (?) spray container.  It was cool when Mom and Dad were paying for it.  As soon as I got out of college, Emily and I were married and we lived on next to nothing.  I still wonder how we didn’t starve but I felt as rich then as I ever have.

Following my forefathers...my shaving mug

Anyhow, we had no money so we bought the cheapest spray foam shaving cream and liked it (uh…we “liked” lots of stuff when there was no choice).  Actually, it wasn’t bad at all.  The gel made me smell like a girl anyhow so I didn’t mind the cheaper foamy stuff.  Yes indeed, very manly…very manly.

About a year ago, I read an article suggesting that modern guys and their significant others are missing out on something special.  The secret of a really great shave was lost on most people and daggone it, I wanted to recall the olden days when men wore hats and had a proper shave.  Well, sort of.  I don’t wear hats but I was up for getting a better shave.

Mr Williams makes my favorite variety

I searched for a proper coffee mug in our cabinets and bought a shaving brush and some of Mr Williams’ shaving soap and gave it a try.  Friends, I am here to report that the shaving experience with shaving soap is a different experience than using the girly gel or the cheap foam.  I haven’t yet moved to using an old fashioned safety razor, but changing to soap alone makes me hop up in the mornings looking forward to shaving.  Well, I may exaggerate some but I definitely prefer using it to cans of cream.  Call me a convert – a convert who is now a step closer to supreme manliness!

Give me a sign

Family, Fun, Thoughts, ,

We spent last weekend with my family at my brother’s place in MD.  We had all sorts of fun but I’ll tell you about that later.  So, Sunday, we were travelling back home to West-by-God-Virginia and had to make various pit-stops.  We stopped some for drinks or snacks, some for “rest” and some to shop.  Well, I don’t really shop much so I’d say our stop at the outlet mall in Flatwoods, WV was more to buy.  Anyhow, as Isaac and I walked into one store, we came upon a sign.  It’s funny…I love that the kids “get” stuff now.  Isaac looked at me, and I looked at him and he started laughing at the wording.  Lots of stuff ran through my head including the importance of words and education and planning, but I think that it was all apparent to Isaac, even if only subconsciously.  He saw the mistakes that were made in that sign and understood why words matter.  Of course, I think he takes that to mean that he shouldn’t write any more than is absolutely necessary.  He loves to talk but trying to get that boy to hand-write a note is like pulling weeds…with your teeth.  Anyhow, I am pretty proud to say that he can properly use “they’re”, “there”, and “their” and that he knew that the wording of the sign was completely wrong.

During one of our stops, we pulled into a rest area someplace near the top of the world (or so it seemed).  The rest area had a great view so we took a few minutes to observe before our ears froze.  After getting our fill of the landscape, we walked into the place and they had signs around including this one…

I don’t think it ever would have  occurred to me that the appliance before me was a water fountain.  Again, Isaac looked at me and I at him and we both just busted out laughing!  I am pretty germ-a-phobic (which is weird since I am not dainty about much of anything) so I am pretty glad we had alcohol hand sanitizer (which we call germ wash) in the car.  Honestly, I use the stuff every time I enter my car.  Weird, huh?  Anyhow, we subdued our thirst and pressed on towards home.

Here's the view where the water was not for drinking...

We had a great trip all around, but I think one of my favorite parts was this ride home.  It’s cool how the simplest of times with the family can make for the best of times!

OCD eggs

Fun, Thoughts,

About a year ago I first disclosed my wife’s CDO (that’s OCD only in alphabetic order as it should be).  She’s funny about a lot of things including the slots on the screws for switch covers.  I think I bring something to the OCD table too though.  I must have an even number of eggs in the egg carton and they must be distributed in a symmetric pattern in the carton.

Most mornings I cook eggs for Emily and Abigail.  They usually each eat 2 eggs which works in nicely with my OCD needs.  Sometimes, however, Emily will have used an odd number of eggs in something she cooks.  On those days, Emily and Abigail split 5 eggs instead of 4.  An odd number will not abide in my house!

It’s a little crazy but on odd eggs days, I will stop what I am doing and cook something to make it work.  I cannot sleep until it is made right.  Does anyone else share my egg issues?  Do you have anything even remotely similar about which you obsess?

Covering one’s hind-end

Family, Fun, Thoughts, ,

Last Christmas, Isaac was given a membership to study Taekwondo under Grandmaster S.H. Kang.  He’s done really well and enjoys fighting and learning his forms (routines practitioners do to increase balance, focus, etc).  I have seen him split a number of boards and he is learning how to defend himself very well.

It occurred to me that his teenage years are coming up.  That time is, of course, always full of moody, brooding, hormonal fun.  I suppose many parents lose touch with their kids when they become teenagers.  TKD seems like an easy place where Isaac and I can find common ground so I started taking classes with him a couple of weeks ago.  I figure the exercise will be good and Isaac and I get a chance to talk on the way to and from the training studio.  If we ever find ourselves in a moody teenage fit or a dark alley, I also will have skills to…uh…calm the situation.  Plus, this is really a great chance for each of us (esp as he gets bigger) to be all manly and tough and express frustration in a controlled way.

So, I started taking lessons and I am here to tell you, TKD is a serious cardio workout.  I am not in bad shape but the free-fighting very nearly kills me each night.  It’s just constant exertion and challenging balance maneuvers.  I am certain that those movie scenes where people fight each other for several minutes is bogus (as if we needed evidence!)  Unless you are in great shape, a real fight doesn’t last long without oxygen tanks nearby!

Anyhow, I am learning my stuff and trying to get more flexible.  Isaac insists that I will have to bow to him when he becomes a black belt.  He probably will beat me there since he has 8 months head start, but I remind him that another TKD rule is that kids essentially bow to their parents…this part is going to be interesting!  Anyhow, I am here to tell you that even the stuff I thought looked simple is anything but…but at least I am covering my hind-end defense-wise and getting in better cardio shape so my Emily and the kids can enjoy me even longer!

To the river gods

Adventure, Family, Fun, Nature, Thoughts, WV, ,

Last weekend we went canoeing with the kids and Emily’s aunt and uncle.  The Little Coal river is near where we all live so it is convenient and really, a pretty great river for canoeing.  Like most of the East, we have been hot and dry for quite awhile so I had pretty low expectations about the quality of the water on the trip.  I grew up in NW PA near the beginning of the Allegheny river.  It is pretty shallow and slow there so I have plenty of experience in carrying a canoe through shallow water.  I didn’t really want to carry a canoe full of my offspring over rocks and downed trees.

We threw our canoes in (actually, the kayak started down the river without us) and headed out.  The water was perfect!  My shallow-water-eyes were just flat out wrong.  There were spots that weren’t deep but in every case, there was a ton of room to navigate the river anywhere we wanted!  The last time we went on this river, the water was raging.  We absolutely could not  get out of the boats (and truth be told, probably shouldn’t have even been in the boats) and our trip down the river was speedy.  This time, we got to really enjoy the river!

There were a few “rapids” that we got to ride.  I wasn’t sure whether the kids would enjoy it but they laughed and Isaac yelled, “Caribou!” at the top of his lungs (yeah, it’s a 4th/5th grade boy thing I think).  We stopped at the end of several of the rapids and walked back up to ride down in the rapids sans boat.  Holy mackerel that was fun!  I had to hold on to the kids the first few times because they were wary, but in no time, they were itching to go on their own…we just had to catch them at the bottom!

At one point, we saw a few cassette tapes in the water.  I suspect that someones house or camp was flooded at some point as no one would just dump old Motley Crue cassettes.  Anyhow, the kids saw them and asked what they were…that’s right, my kids had no idea what a cassette tape was or why people would use them instead of cds or dvds.  That was a bit shocking to me but we had a great conversation about how life was when I was a kid (and that wasn’t super long ago…I can’t imagine if they had the conversation with my 96 year old Grandpa!)  I enjoyed telling them about sleeping in the back of the station wagon on trips and how our legs would burn and stick to the plastic seats…how we didn’t have A/C in the house  or cars and no cell phones or video games.  Abigail asked me, “How did you make it through?”  HA!  And our lives were still pretty easy compared to people before us!

Anyhow, it didn’t take long for Diva…I mean Abigail…to get tired.  She propped back in the kayak and toured the rest of the river “princess style”.  We ate lunch on the river and laughed and had a great time not worrying about a thing.  Our only donation to the river gods was one pair of old sunglasses.  They were easily satisfied with our sacrifice.  I think the river was just what we needed…and I can’t wait to go again!

Video 1 Video 2 Video 3 Video 4

You may need to download Quicktime viewer if these videos don’t work for you…

Mushrooms too!

Awesome, Thoughts, WV

I mentioned that we found a new spot for picking blackberries.  The new spot is into the woods a bit so we have to take a little time to walk to the best berries.  Along the way, we found some great mushrooms…these are chanterelles but there were all different sorts.  We’ve harvested them before but these ones looked especially cool to me.  There were tons of this variety and they were in all conditions and sizes.

There really is a lot of good about walking into the woods.  It seems like most people don’t venture in too far so there is a lot of beautiful stuff that just goes unnoticed.  I know that but I think I had forgotten too.  Sometimes I wonder how much other stuff like this I have forgotten.  It’s funny how day-to-day life buzzes right on by as the really cool stuff of life gets forgotten…