Lawsuit papers

Well, it has finally come to pass. THose assholes at American Gold Martial Arts actually had the balls to file a civil lawsuit against me. Hope theyre ready for a legal asswhoopin.

Addition to my last post

I shoudl mention that whateve the hell is "going around" need to stop going around. Im talking about this friggin virus that has kids from coast to coast in its clutches. Lance is recovering pretty well (but still being medicated with cough and cold medicine), but Logan was finally put on antibiotics because he just wasnt responding to the cold medicine.

Logan: Now that we have good medicine, he has decided that medicine is punishment, and he'd rather kick the shit out of me than to simply take a few sips of bubblegum flavored medicine. And don't even try that "slip the med in the drink" shit with him - he'll know - and refuse to drink the rest of the day.

Lance: A few days, he woke up with his eyes crusted shut. Eye boogers so bad that he actually couldn't get his lids to seperate. The last few days were ok - not so much eye boogers
, but still present. No sign of pink eye.

BOTH KIDS: Have (off and on) runny noses - and what sounds like an upper respiratory infection. Although, even with 3 trips to the DR, and them using a stethescope - they say "he sounds pretty clear". Last time a dr told me that, I told her "Oh hell no - you go get another one of those things, and try again. Either that ones broke, or your deaf."

ME: Ive been slow to get it, but its finally hit me hard. I have a runny nose, and think a mucus factory has taken residency in my chest. Im better at night (except for this damn night time cough), but overnight, the mucus strikes back and recoats my inside with that nasty yellow glue.

I gave up on Tylenol and switched to the Equate (Walmart brand) Nighttime Cough a
nd Cold medicine - Gooood stuff. It does say nighttime on it - it doesn't say anything about it causing drowsiness - but it does. Oh yeah - an hour after taking it, and Im drifting away. Which kinda sucked last night, when I REALLY needed to take it, but the kids were taking turn waking up - with about 15 minute intervals between. I was afraid tat If I took the med, I wouldn't wake up to get the next screaming, crying kicking kid. Not an entirely bad thought, mind you, but I have to tend the flock at night so the wife can get sleep. After all, she's the one with the job that pays in money. And there's a saying "If Momma aint happy - AINT NOBODY happy!"

Down the path to the dark side

Ever have one of those days that, about half way thru, you sat back and thought ot yourself "It just wasnt worth it for me to get out of bed today"? Today was like that for me.

We've really been having a problem with Logan lately. He seems to be having temper issues. AS well as simply not listening to what we say.

EX: Yesterday was a farily warm day. And dry. I wanted to go to the zoo for a short time, or at least to a local mall . Figured it'd get the kids out of the house, and let them run around a bit. Talked to Logan about going to the mall or zoo, and he was all excited. Started gettign ready - shirts on - pants on - socks on - and then we get to shoes. I had already had a bit of an issue regarding his havin got wear pants, but he flat out refused to wear shoes. When I explained that he cant go without shoes, he through a full blown temper tantrum - told me that making him wear shoes was a "Big no no", and threw his shoes at me. After a few minutes of this battle, I decided that it wasnt worth it, and took off my coat and shoes. Seeing this, he asked ME to put MY shoes on. I told him that the trip was off. No mall - no zoo - no Chickfila. We woudl stay home, and I would make them lunch from the kitchen. THis was the end of the world for him - and he threw a tantrum of epic proportion. Poor Lance didn't have a clue about what was happening.

Today, after being told NOT to turn the tv volume all the way up (and his yelling that he had "big ears" and would turn the volume up if he wanted to), he blew a circuit. Rather than yell at him about the volume thing, I turned the tv off. About this time, Lance was crawling by - so Logan picked up a piece of cardboard and started smacking him on the head with it. I had him in one hand and the cardboard in the other before I really knew that I had moved at all.


Logan spent most of the mourning in him room, alone , while Lance and I napped in the living room. I'd check on Logan from time to time, and he would be either playing with toys, or watching cartoon - but calm and nice as could be. After a few hours, I felt bad about his self imposed exile, and went into his room. He was fine , and we talked and played for about 15 minutes, before somethign set him off again, and I tol dhim if he was going to be mean, he could play alone. And he did. For another hours or 2 until the wife got home.

I really don't know what is going on with him. If this is a stage he is going through. If allowing him to watch The Karate Kid and Rush Hour is now coming back to bite me in the ass, or what. There are times when he wakes up at night somewhat crying, and kicking. Not wildly (uncontrolably), but like he is very angry. He is too young to be acting this angry. He is in no competition for attention. If anything, he gets MORE attention thatn his baby brother does (another point of discussion for a later time).

I know all about the terrible 2's, and that they can extend well into 3 and 4 years old, but this seems different. And of course, as a worried parent, when he does this, I start thinking of the BIGGER picture - did I cause this? Is this something that will effect him forever? Is there something that I could be doing differently that would better manager these fits?

I've sometiems watched those tv cable medical shows where they have a child with a disorder/disease, and the parents start off by saying "He was a perfectly normal 4 years old -and then BAM, this just came out of nowhere". I fear these things.

Im really not in a happy place now. I had such a tight bonding with Logan, becasue he was the first born. I was able to devote all my time to him - playing ,learning, even just cuddling. Now, at times, theres a different child in his place. And to make matters worse, whether he's beign good or bad, I'm just not getting to spend the same kind of "one on one" time with Lance as I did Logan. Lance is progressing (developmentally) at a very normal pace - no deficiancies or delays. I feel bad abou tthis though - I wonder how much more advanced Lance would be if I was able to give him the same attention that Logan had the benefit of. At the same time, I'm worried that Im losing control of my more advanced child. Ok - losing control is not what I meant - hes not walking all over me. It's just that I've always said that children reflect back what they see in the parent. I just don't see where Logan has seen rage and anger in me so much that he is reflecting it. I'm open to the introspection of it. I've started to watch myself very carfully - seeing what happens when I get frustrated - or angry - to see if he may be modeling me - or picking up cues from my actions of words. I admit, I lose it form time to time. After telling him to put a stick down 6 times, and then watching him his his brother with it, I've been known to take the stick and fling it out the front door while yelling a bit more than I should have. I'm Logan's protector - but Im also Lance's protector too. I can only imagine the impact that a mean abusive brother can have on a 1 yr old.

Allow me to clarify to the court the last statement. Logan is a wonderful big brother. He is protective over Lance when we are at playground, or with other chidlren. He often will take things away from baby (like batteries) when baby is trying to put them in him mouth. Logan will remove th eitem, and tell Lance that it's a "big no no" to put things in him mouth. He will mandomly go up to Lance and give him a big hhug and a kiss, for no reason, and withouth prompting. On the other hand, he recently (as Lance has becoem more mobile) has become more physical with Lance. When the baby is trying to climb up on the bed, Logan will push the baby from above - not realizing that the baby could fall backwards and hurt himself. We've seen a few times of intensional infliction of hard (like hitting him on the head with cardboard - softly kicking him after the baby bit him on the arm) where Logan has seemed to lash out in anger. Thank God non e of these times have ever been with malice - or resulted in any damage other than a crying baby and a freaked out dada.

Tomorrow, Logan has a playdate with the MIL. That'll give Lance and I some time to ourselves. Maybe I'll see if either she'll take Lance next week - or if my mom would come over to watch Lance for a few hours, and have me take Logan out by ourselves. I don't think that one on one time with Logan is what he is missing (the absent key that will unlock his GOOD nature), but it sure won't hurt either.

If any needs me, I'll be hanging in here.......

Snooooooozin 

After being a crab ass all morning - I KNEW he needed that nap. But he would't listen to me. 

From the other side 

Have you ever been mellow?

My first love was Olivia Newton John.


Today was a bit of a mellow day. Spent most of it in a haze. The boys were both layed back and neither one started much trouble at all. I am coming down with whatever cold/virus they are suffering from, so we all just took today very slowly.

When the wife came home, we went out to eat, and then I was off to my iaido (samurai sword ) class. We ended up breaking the class into 2 groups - the teacher took one, and I was assigned the other. I hope I was as helpful to them as sensei was to me last week (when I was the only one to show up - and got a LOT of my problems fine tuned).

Almost midnight. Time for some medicine - and a late night snack.

Shannon
ps. Regarding the late night snack - I noticed a week ago that I had gained 5 pounds. I was a bit upset, but am still glad to be only 225, instead of the 245 that I started out at. The aikido class is helping , but I think I should maybe do more cardio/running at the Y in addition to my martial arts.


PSS. I wanted to do a big piece about digital photos, storage methods, dangers/risk of losing them, and stuff like that. I just dont have it in me tonight. I will tyr to do that tommorow night - please tune back in then.

The COUNT

Ive noticed that , much to my amazment, the counter at the bottom of the page is at 1,958 visits. If the 2,000th person happens to notice , please comment and let me know you were here.


Thanks!

Testing - 123 testing

This kid is really testing my patience. Today, I ran out of it. While baby brother took his afternoon nap, Logan yet again spent an hour wiggling, and moving, and repositioning, and buggin me until i raised my voice and told him to knock it off. That, of course, woke up the baby. Lance wouldn't go back down, go I was determined that Logan would. That's when the fight started.

Today was riddled with an hour of peace and happiness - folllowed by something that started ww3.
Ex: We'd all play together in 1 room. For 30 minutes, we'd all get along playing with Rescue hero people. We all shared, and played nice. THEN, Logan would spot something that he wasn't allowed to have, like scisccors, and ask for them.. I'd say (very nicely) "No swetheart, you don't need those. Those are sharp". He'd stomp his foot, and yell at me that he DID need them, and that he wanted them NOW. I'd tell him that I wasn't some kindercare worker, and that he wasn't going to talk to me like that. He turns red (angry red) , and bited the collar of his shirt. I tell him to knock it off and let's just play. He kicks me, tells me that I'M not nice, and storms out of the room. In my head, I hear a little voice that sounds like Carter from Rush Hour (Chris Tucker) saying "Oh Helllll no", and it escalated from there. It ends with me losing my cool and yelling at him until he cries. Then time out. I feel really bad when I lose my cool.. I catch myself sometimes in the middle of a rant, and realize that not only isn't it going to help, he really don't care to hear what Im saying. Not at 3 years old.

Parenting ... I thought it was simpler than this?!

As for the deer head, it moves up and down, and from side to side. The mouth moves, and the ears wiggle. It was a big hit today. The baby kept siting down in front of it and pointing, and asking me to make it sing. It talks a bit as an intro for snipits of about 6 songs it sings. "Suspicious eyes " by Elvis, "On the road again" by Willie, and a few others. Not the whole song, just a line or two. But you can use the wireless mic to make it move and amplify your voice OR hard line in a radio/cd/tv. I was testing different songs, and think I went one too far. I was jamming to "Feed my Frankenstien", bu Alice Cooper, when I looked over and saw a kinda freaked out look on the kids faces. I skipped to the next song, "Thriller", and the kids loved the Deer Head once more.

Tomorrow, I have to do something different with Logan. He's still in the clutches of that cold (but no fevers, thank God). I know he is young, and still sick, but this not listening - and instant temper tantrums are a sight to behold. I don't want to come down too hard on him, but at the same time, I don't want to let him get away with it, and find myself looking at a 16 year old Logan (that's out of control) and wonder "Where'd I go wrong?". Maybe, tomorrow, we'll change rooms for nap/movie time. That way, and fussing he does won't wake up the baby . We had been dozing in the living room - Lance's swing is there, and the couch for Logan and I.

When I got back from aikido class (and Walmart afterwards), he was already asleep. I feel bad when I donm't get to kiss him goodnight - I feel even worse not doing that after we've had a bad day.

Shannon

A better day today

With all that has been going on with Logan, I havent had time to keep up with the blogs I usually check in on.

Today was a good day. Logan still has a runny nose , but he hasn't gotten anywhere near as sick as the other night. We've been giving him Tylenol or cold medicine, and that seems to be working.

Today was my mother's birthday - she turned 63.

After a pretty eventless morning, I headed off to work (money - cha ching!) I had a magic show to perform for a 6 yr old birthday party. It had been a while since I had done one - and I was (i feel) a bit ackward, but it went quite well.

Came back home to get the family, and met my mom for dinner.

DEER HEAD ON THE WALL!
Walmart, mecca of "I didnt' realize I needed THAT", has had a deer head on a store pole for a few months. Everytime we go there, the kids demand that we go to the sporting goods area. I am tall enough to push the activation button, and this life-like looking mounted deer head talks and sings. It started off at $99, and then dropped to $75 after Christmas. A little while later, it dropped to $50. I watched as their stock decreased, until only 5 we left. Yesterday, they were all gone. The kids didnt care, casue they (Walmart) still has one on the wall. The wife breathed a sigh of relief. This was a sad moment for me. I kinda wanted one. Not for $50, but I figured they'd drop down lower as they sat there unbought.

After asking the sports guy about them, he directed somewhere - the isle of forgotten reduced talking deer heads! 3 of them left. And marked down to - $35 !!!

The kids love that we have a talking deer on our livingroom wall. The wireless mike is a favorite with them. I like the remote that makes it move. The cats are not as amused. The wife -let's not go there.

Tomorrow is Monday - the wife is back to work - and it's back to the grind for me.

I spoke too soon

I came up last night to tell how sick Logan had got. I only got 1 sentence typed, and I heard him crying downstairs, and left to take care of him.

He's been sick, and I lost my temper with him earlier Thursday. I felt bad about it, and after getting milk at Walmart . .. I scanned the clearance isle and found a HUGE action figure of the THING from Fantastic 4. Logan calls him "Brown Hulk", and has a Spiderman and Batman the same sized. I figured I'd suprise him with it the next morning. He was already in bed when i got home.

He woke up from his sleep in a very disoriented mood, and coughing pretty bad. He took one look at Brown Hulk, and tears ran down his face. He told me that "brown Hulk is bad. Brown Hulk scares me. Me no want brown hulk. Throw in garbage, dada." So much for that.

I ended up laying with him to calm him down. He tossed and turned. We had only gotten about 1 or 2 hours sleep when he woke me up crying. He said that he was cold. But he was under 2 blankets, and cuddles next to me.
A quick check of his forehead showed that he was burning up with fever.

He spit up a few times, and had me scared to death. His temp was around 103. He was hot to the touch. I debated on taking him to the hospital. This was around 3-4am. I took him out of the bedroom, so that we wouldn't wake up the baby. Sat him on the couch, and planned my next move. The wife was still sleeping, and I wanted her to get as much rest as possible. At the same time, I was started to get scared that SOMETHING needed to be done, and I wasn't sure what it was. I got him Tylenol to reduce the fever..but he threw a coniption fit about having to take the medicine. I tried to put a wet wash cloth on him to draw some heat out, but he only screamed and cried for me to stop.

After a whiule, the wife woke up to see what was goign on. He was in pretty bad shape. We decided that we had done all we could to get his fever down, ad it did start to decrease , but only by 1 or 2 degrees. The pediatricians that we go to have from when they open until 9am reserved for walk ins. We got there 30 minutes before they opened.

And wouldnt you knwo it - Logan went from deaths door to "oh, just fine" in the short time of the car ride to the Dr office. The wife called into work late, cause Logan was so upset that she wasn't going to the Dr with us. As soon as his crazy ass hit that waiting room, he was runnign around, yelling, playing with toys, singing songs ... we yelled at him to act sick, he was going to make us look like idiots!

They examinied him ,and said that he was fine. he had some "it's goign around" virus, and his fever had broken. We sat there looking at the now "normal " Logan in disbelief. Someone MUST HAVE switched kids on the ride over. There was no way this was the same child who was crying, and screaming, and buring up with fever, and begging me "NO MORE, dada.....NO MORE!". THe same child that tossed and turned for 30 minutes unable to get back to sleep.

Flash forward to last night - I came upstairs to blog, and as soon as my ass hit the chair, he wok eup crying. His fever had returned, but not nearly as bad as the night before. Got medicine into him, and had to lay with him on the couch. I think I got about 3 hours sleep, (mind you, I only got about 2 hours sleep the night before..my ass was REALLy dragging at this point), when I woke up and realized how uncomfotable I was. I was on my back, and he was on his back , between my legs. His head was on my stomache, and I desperately needed to get up and stretch. I managed to wiggle out , and lift him up. I placed him in his own bed, and as I stood ther ein silence (I SWEAR!! Silence! Kwai Chang Caine would have been proud of me), Lance starts coughing, sits up , and starts crying. I cant win. I finally get one down, and the other one wakes up. I tried giving him his paci, and rubbing his back... no good. He was awake and he was unhappy. Diaper was fine. I layed him down next to me on the floor (we were on top of about 3 comforters and had blankets for covering up with, so it was warm and soft. He would not go to sleep. He kept waiting for me to doze off, and popped me in the nose. A few times of this, and he got carted off to mommy.

I woke up this mouring to find both awake and in good spirits. After getting Lance his milk, he played with Logan for about 2 hours, while I faded in and out of sleep.

Tonight, as I started to type all this - again, he woke up. He was crying (no fever this time - HURRAY!), but had had a nightmare about fire and bad guys. I calmed him, and left him to his mother to deal with . I need a break. And sleep.

Good fortune smiles upon me

Thanks for those who helped me with the last post. I installed one (link is at the very bottom), and actually was a Google search page. Sweet!

More fortune: Got an email from ATI (the video card people), and they just released a new version of their drivers and Multimedia center. They suggested that I install these to fix my problem, and it worked. I've restarted the system, open/closed the tv program - let it run for about a half hour, and no problems so far. Guess I will be taking that USB version back to the store. At least ATI released the new drivers within the 14 days that I have to return the otehr one.

Logan has a bad cold - poor thing is very congested and has a runny nose. Lance has been uneffected so far - hope it stays that way.

Being sick, overtired because of refusing to take naps anymore, and demonic possesion are not a good combination for Logan. Most of our day was fine, but shortly after the wife got home, he lost his friggin mind! We're talking ranting, raving, throwing things, screaming, speaking like he was ZULE from Ghostbusters - the works. Took him 30 minutes to calm down.

I'll talk more on this later. Im hungry , and there's a box of macaroni and cheese downstairs with my name on it!

How people find my blog

Hey - does anyone know who to find out what search terms people use to find your blog? (Without them telling you).

Ive seen on more that one blog, how they were suprised (and sometimes shocked) at what search word on Google listed their site.


Anyone know how to do it?

Oh what a beautiful mourning -

everyone sing along.. Oh what a beautiful day..


Today was very pleasant. We started of by a tip to the Ymca (as a family - the wife had the day off from work). She wanted to try a "baby and me" class, and I took Logan into the Gym to play ball. Their gym is resrerved for their childcare from 9am-1pm, and was empty when we got there. I called ahead and they said it was fine for us to play in there... that's why it was reserved - just big people without little people weren't allowed.

The wife headed off to her class with Lance, and I headed to the gym with logan. After about 10 minutes of running around and throwing basketballs around, we were overrun with 26 kids from the childwatch. Not what I had planned, but it worked out great. Logan now had the feeling that he was doing something with me, but also had 26 other kids to play with.

Funny thing was, with all those kids now present, I was the last one that Logan wanted to play with. Not that I was left out, mind you. everytime I sat down, about 4-12 kids gathered around me, and started rolling balls at me, wanting me to play ball with them. It was so cute! I had a hard time keeping track of Logan, and entertaining all the other kids, but I managed. Never a dirty look from the kid watchers either. As a matter of fact, laterr, when the wife had stepped in (after her class) to watch the kids while I grabbed our locker stuff, she overheard 2 worker talking with an Admin person, saying that they'd have gone nuts, if a dad hadn't have been there to play with some of the kids. (sweeeet).

When Lance showed up, there were only about 15 kids left, so I let him run around on the floor (crawl, actually). He loved it. He got a basketball, and rolled it (crawling ater it) from one end of the court to the other. Then , he crawled to the center of the basketball court, and started smiling and yelling to everyone.
So after playing , we headed over to Logan's Roadhouse for lunch. They overcooked my first burger, but the second one was delish!!

We same home for nap time, and this is where I lost rack of time. It was now about 1pm, and I sonked!! Dead to the world. Lance slept, Logan and the wife played - and I layed on the couch in a state of blissful unconsciousness. Woke up a few times, with either the wife nose-to-nose with me, or Logan-- telling me that I was snoring too loud.

Got up groggy, but got my aikido stuff together. The wife and the kids were heading back to the Y. SHe had a fitness class, and the kids were going to childwatch. I was heading out to Aikido, but my battery was dead. It's been giving me trouble. It eventually started, and class was great. I stopped at Advance, had the battery checked (confirmed that it was indeed the battery that was bad, and I didn't have an electrical short somewhere in the truck), and $76 later, drove home with a new battery. Coulda got one cheaper at Walmart, but they at least tested the old one for free. I don't think Walmart will test your old one.

Got home - baby asleep - wife and Logan on couch watching tv. Soon , Logan was asleep, and wife and I eat what was left over from our Roadhouse lunch.

Now - I sit before a working computer - no internet interuption, and can watch tv if I want to (although, of course, now that I have it fixed, Im not watching it.)

Shannon

ps. I gotta give credit to the tech support at Mach Speed. They responded to all my tech support emails. ATI, on the other hand, sucks. Fuckers sent me a auto-return email saying that it was probably my fault, I installed the software wrong or something. Jackasses. THe Mach people came to the same conclusion that I did - that it was a conflict with the video card and the VIA chipset of the board. So word of advice - if you want an ATI all in wonder video card - make sure that you have an Intel chipset on your motherboard - NOT a VIA chipset.

Computer problem solved

I bought the external USB 2.0 version of the TV tuner by ATI, and it works fine. Sucks that I had to spring $100 for it, when I have it already ON the vid card, but I figure - at least this way, I am now free to upgrade the video card as needed (when a great sale goes on, fo rone with more memory). I don't have to ONLY upgrade to a faster all in wonder for fear of losing my video in/tv feature. Sweeeet.

Shannon

Luck of the Irish

Well...here's what I got:

I put back in the old mobo - and the new processor woudl NOT work kwith it. The fans started as soon as I plugged in the power cord, and no video or life at all. On a whim, I reinstalled the old 2ghz celeron cpu (with 1 missing prong, and 1 bent one), and it started...and all was well for about 3 minutes. OR, if you tried to run a program. Appearantly, the missing cpu prongs are not related to running Windows, but really are needed to work right.

I was able, however, to figure out what the old mother board was . It was NOT a Soyo, as I previouly thought, but is a LITE ON NA115

At least now I can pass that on to the ATI and MACH SPEED MOBO techs. I truely think the problem is either that the MACH SPEED will not allow you to disable the onboard video - OR it's the VIA chipset. The LITE mobo has an Intel chipset, and no onboard video.

BEST NEWS OF ALL - I didnt have to reinstall Windows this time. WHen I swapped the old board back and forth, windows started right up. There was some "FOUND NEW HARDWARE" stuff when it sensed the old board, but no troubles at all.

So - I guess unless the techs can figure out what's up with my conflict - I can

• Pass this board and cpu on to my mom for her birthday
• Buy another mobo (with intel chipset and no video), and Ebay the MACH mobo
• I don't really have a 3rd - I just hit the button, and didnt want to backspace

I thank all you non geeks fo rfollowing along - I knwo that in a year, non of this will amount to a hill of beans, but in the meantime, I hope some other poor bastard with the same trouble can find this blog and save themselves the time by avoiding what I've already done.

Just plain out of luck

Well, my plans of letting the Geek Squad at BestBUy fix my computer went KAPUT today. I fingued there was something wrong with "If they don't get it to work, I got my $40 back", so I called to confirm this. TUrns out the girl I spoke with didn't knwo what the hel she was saying. If they can't get it to work, they will "allow" me to return the video card (which I can already return). They keep the $40 for labor. Screw that. I returned the new card and reinstalled the old card.

After all of my trying, I am certain that the problem lies in a video card/ motherboard incompatibility. I now gotta figure out whether to try the USB version, or just spend the money on another new motherboard (this time with INTEL chipset, and not this VIA crap). Time to browse the TIGERDIRECT.com website again. My mother's birthday is coming up soon - maybe I'll upgrade her computer for her..hmmmmm.

TECH QUESTION: My old motherboard was a SOYO something - it ran a Celeron 2ghz with a 400fsb. Has anyone ever stuck a Celeron 2.9 478 pin cpu with a 533 fsb into a mobo that useta run a chip with a 400fsb? I know it will all depend on whether the old motherboad can handle the fsb of the new chip - and I'd answer that questions for myself - cept that those fuckwits over at Microsoft make you reinstall windpws xp when you change motherboards. I don't want to install it again.



Logan had a qild day today - major spaz. Lance was determined to stand , but was always laughing so hard that he never got that first step going.

Here's an overview of Trashmore. I forgot to mention that one side has a freeway, one has roads, and the other 2 have water. The play are is upper left. We caugh tlittle Noah as he got to about the center of the map.  

Where the hell is your head, lady?!

With the discussion of how differently us dads and THOSE moms act when at a play area, I bestow upon you the following story:

Yesterday, it was such a nice day outside. Not a hint of rain, and short sleeve temperatures. Kinda. I put long sleeves on the kids anyways, and headed off to a local park. This place is called Mt. Trashmore. It was built on a trash dump, and has a BIG ASS (or wicked big) hill seperating the park into 2 sections. A play area is on one side. The kids and I started there....Logan running free, and Lance in a backpack. I don't like the setup of the play area... it isn't fenced in, and there are too many blind spots. Anyways, I kept a good eye on Logan as he ran around and up and down.


Once, I lost sight of him. For about 10 seconds...I freaked, kinda. I started calling for him, and he answered "Right here , Da."

We decided to take a hike up the BIG BIG hill, and headed up (with the play area to our backs). There was a woman sitting half way up the hill, with a small child. Another small child, roughly age 3-4 was at the bottom heading up to her. So, Small Child is in the lead, followed closely by Logan, then Lance and I pulling up the rear. THe child past the woman...Logan passed the woman...as I neared, she asked "Are both of those kids yours?", meaning both the runnign toddlers. I said "No - but $20 says he's here with his mother, and he's escaped the play area".

I called to this little shit to stop, and he thought it was a game, and ran faster. I tried to tell BOTH of them to sit down, but only Logan listened. Finally, as we neared the top of the hill, I told Logan to tackle his ass. And Logan took of with purpose! The child was about 10 ft from the top of the hill when FINALLY, we heard a voice from the play area calling the boy's name (or at least what I hoped was the boys name). Logan had snagged him just as he crested the hill. So with Logan in my right hand, and Noah in left, we went back over the hump, and began walking him back to his shitheaded mother. No doubt she was too busy yacking on a cell phone, or socializing with other moms to be bothered with making sure here kid didn't dissapear.

As we walked back, I told Noah that he should NEVER run away like that, that it would make him mommy really sad. Logan ooked over at him and said "BIG no no, little boy". I was SOOOO proud!!

I wish I had thought to chew the mom a new asshole...or really bitch her out, but after she walked all the way up the hill (I figured she needed the time to reflect), I handed her son over, and just shook my head. Almost as an afterthought, this bitch turns and says "oh, thank you for bringing my son back to me".

I just shook my head and said to Logan "Asshole moms will NEVER cease to amaze me".


This insident gave me a great opportunity to see that although Logan takes off like a bat out of hell, I've at least layed the ground work - for him learning what not to do. ANd felt very justified at how I watch over him like a hawk, and keep an eye on him at all times.

THis will definietly make me look even worser (is hat a real word?) at the social clubs disguised as "play groups", where mom's too busy with her own "play", and little "Noahs" wander off to God knows what end.

Shannon

ps. To all my SAHD readers.... - screw all those weird looks - keep up the good work!

Crappy day - funny post

I had a few witty thoughts to post today, but Logan had such a bad day that I can't think of a thing. He finally got a grip with reality around 6pm, when we went to the Y. The day care attendants told me that both the boys had a really good day. I asked if they were sure they were talking about the right kids - MY kids. They assured me that they were. The wife had a fitness meeting that ran long, so I stayed and played with them till she was done. Indeed, they behaved.

I belong to a Yahoo group called Expectant and New Dads Club. Got a recent posting that was very funny. Figured I'd copy it to here for your viewing pleasure...

WANT KIDS? TAKE THIS SIMPLE TEST...

MESS TEST

Smear peanut butter on the sofa and curtains. Now rub your hands in the
wet flower bed and rub on the walls. Place a fish stick behind the
couch and leave it there all summer. Obtain a 55-gallon box of Legos.
(If Legos are not available, you may substitute roofing tacks or broken
bottles.) Have a friend spread them all over the house. Put on a
blindfold. Try to walk to the bathroom or kitchen. Do not scream (this
could wake a child at night).

GROCERY STORE TEST

Borrow one or two small animals (goats are best) and take them with you
as you shop at the grocery store. Always keep them in sight and pay for
anything they eat or damage.

DRESSING TEST

Obtain one large, unhappy, live octopus. Stuff into a small net bag
making sure that all arms stay inside.

FEEDING TEST

Obtain a large plastic milk jug. Fill halfway with water. Suspend from
the ceiling with a stout cord. Start the jug swinging. Try to insert
spoonfuls of soggy cereal (such as Fruit Loops or Cheerios) into the
mouth of the jug while pretending to be an airplane. Now dump the
contents of the jug on the floor.

NIGHT TEST

Prepare by obtaining a small cloth bag and fill it with 8 to 12 pounds
of sand. Soak it thoroughly in water. At 8:00 PM begin to waltz and
hum with the bag until 9:00 PM. Lay down your bag and set your alarm
for 10:00 PM. Get up, pick up your bag, and sing every song you have
ever heard. Make up about a dozen more and sing these too until 4:00
AM. Set alarm for 5:00 AM. Get up and make breakfast. Keep this up
for 5 years. Look cheerful.

PHYSICAL TEST

Obtain a large bean-bag chair and attach it to the front of your
clothes. Leave it there for 9 months. Now remove 10% of the beans.
Purchase a newspaper. Go home and read it quietly for the last time.

FINAL ASSIGNMENT

Find a couple who already has a small child. Lecture them on how they
can improve their child's discipline, patience, tolerance, toilet
training, and table manners. Suggest many ways they can improve.
Emphasize to them that they should never allow their children to run
wild.

Enjoy this experience. It will be the last time you will have all the
answers.

Gotta post this

I was jus tbloghopping, and while reading the comment section on Dad Gone Mad, saw that someone noticed something not right with the picture order of his Flicker account.

Remind me never to post pictures of me holding frozen veggies !!

The Lone Daddy

Maybe it was modesty - maybe it was not wanting to turn on my own gender. However, 2 replies to my last post have been right in line with what I kinda felt in my heart. When all those kids start gathering around..and talking about what they did that day... I get a sense that they don't get enough Daddy Time at home. I know that mine is a unique situation. My day starts at son up and ends at son down. I don't take for granted the gift I've been given...to spend all this time with my little ones. But I really get a feeling that most kids are not only attention starved - but are primarily attention starved for Daddy Time. After I read the coments, and reread the post, I remembered that at one point, 3 of the children started callign me "Daddy". I didn't think much of it - passing it off as simple kiddie stuff. But the more I thought about it ..

While us full time dads may not be mainstreamed - or accepted - or even scoffed at by women and men alike - but we sure do have access to a special gift. We are there when our children do such wonderous things .... like babble about whatever they dream about - or create a masterpiece with Crayons and construction paper ... or simple grow up. When I think of the relationship that I have with my sons - I can't help but wonder how a father could want/accept anything less.

My own father was a putz. He was never mean to me - he was never abusive to me (although he was both to my mother). I spent only 2 weeks vacation with him each summer, and often looked forward to it. Until I started to get older, and realized that not only was he absent from my life the rest of the year, but during those 2 weeks - he'd go hunting, or make other plans that didn't involve a little kid - I spent time with him on a boat (fishing a lake - that was fun, I admit). But for the most part - he was neglectful. He wasn't there most of the 2 weeks (my memory may be faulty about that - but I do remember feeling left behind several times, when I was "watched" by relatives, friends, or even his bosses family). He was never there to ask me how my day went. He wasn't there to inspire me when I had a big project due. He wasn't there to comfort me when my prom went to shit. I have no idea who his heros were, or who he wanted to be when he grew up. His favorite song in highskool, his first love, his first car.

Which raises an important question : does coming from a family with an absent /neglectful father make you double your efforts to be everything that you own father wasn't? In my case, I believe this to be true. I can also see how a pattern can develope, over generations, of assholes not knwoing how to connect with their kids, because of lack of rolemodels. (in my own case, I was fortunate to have a wonderful grandpa, and a loving Uncle, who stepped up to the plate - and were excellent role models for me).

I can only hope that my children will learn by my example. I want them to think back on their time with me, and think great things. I want them to one day be playing with their own children, and never give it a second thought - that there is nowhere else on earth they'd rather be.


Just a curiosity - how many of my stay at home dad readers came from homes with strong "father figure" role models? How many came from broken homes? What factor in your life (growing up) would you attribute your abilty to do what you do? Was it just thrust upon you and you're doing the best you can? Are you detemined to do a better job than you father did with you?

In my own life, I find many factors - insistance to be a better father than my own was (not too high a goal there), modeling after my uncle and grandfather, and embracing those traits/ qualities that are typically "male gendered". When there's only you and your mom... cleaning, sewing, laundry are not feminin tasks..they are gender neutral.

Okay - enough of the serious stuff

Walmart had a few tvs on clearance. They were Batman tvs. 13inch, color, and have rca input jaks in the front, and the remote is shaped like a bat symbol! Originally $100, they were marked down to $75. I waited. Then to $50. I waited. Tonight, they had only 3 left, and 1 was broken. I figured I'd better make my move. I compared "regular" 13 inch tvs at Walmart, and they were about $10 more expensive. I'll have to post a picture of it when I get it set up tomorrow.

We were driving around in the car, when Logan wanted the song changed - he wanted what he calls the "OWWww" song. "I love rock and roll" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. After listening to him sing along, he said "At my fayrot un, da" (That's my favorite one, dad). I may be wrong, but I think that was the first time he's ever used the word "favorite". We spoke it to him..asked him which one he wanted...which one is yoru favorite. It was just so cute to hear him use it in his own sentence.

We started focusing on his ABC's. He pretty much can sing the song by himself, so I decided that each day woudl be dedicated to a letter. Today was "A" day. As we went thru our day to day things - I tried to point out things that started with the letter A. This was harder than is sounds. There aint much that begins with A out there. Not words on a 3 year old level, at least. I started the day with
"A is for apple - aardvark - angel - apple - shit I said that already - ok - let me think - avacodo - azure, that's like blue..nevermind , that will only confuze you - analogy - alagarky, nope wait - that's Oligarky with an O. Let's just stick with apple for today."

I sure hope the "B"s tomorrow are kinder to me.

Well, off to bed.

As if my last entry wasn't long enough

2 things I wanted to tell about

As I was typing that last entry, I kept hearing on eof our cats. Meow meow meow meow meow. He would't shut up. Finally, after 10 minutes of listenign to him, I went to check. He was waiting for me at the bottom of the steps. He just sat there and stares at me. I asked him "What's the problem? Are you lonely? Bored? Forget what the sound of a cat is like??" He just gives me a dumb look. But then, moments later, as I stood their taking a leak . .. the whole "Lassie/ Timmy" thing kicked in. I thought "Shit..what if he was tryign to tell me something?"

I find him still sittin gthere, and when I ask him what's wrong, he takes off to the kids room. Both boys are fine. Lance is fast asleep, ---Logan had rolled over, and was uncovered. I covered Logan back up, and the cat walked away. Weird.



CHICKFILA TODAY

I've often commented , and seen recent discussions, on how stay at home dads are perceived. From losers, to unemployable, to pervert - it runs the gambit. Try being the only male in a playgroup. Or the only male at the park with your kids. Some women have actually pulled their kids out of playplaces after I start playing with my kids. Im not loud, or forceful, or too ugly.

Today, something neat happened to Chickfila. I took the boys there for lunch - and we decided to play before we ate (this is to somewhat prevent Logan from playing so hard that his tummy gets upset, or as we have heard it called...Party till you puke!). The playplace was in choas! About 10 kids running and screaming and acting nuts! I stroll in - 35 years old, 6'1, haven't shaved in 2 weeks, hair all a mess, with my 1 and 3 year old. As soon as we sat down to take off shoes, the place was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. It freaked me out. I looked around, thinking that either the kids had been an illusion all along, or had just been abducted by aliens . But they all stopped their rampage, and were gathering around me. For a moment, CHildren of the Corn came to mind, but I overcame this image. They all started talking to me about what they had done that day, and who was going shopping afterwards, and who was nto being nice, and who could get to the top of the playstuff fastest. It was a mixture of feeling like Santa Claus/EVERYONES daddy / and a teacher all at once. I cried havoc and released my hounds of war - and play resumed. The girls wanted to play with Lance...the boys went tromping up the playstuff with Logan. When I heard Logan yelling, or stomping his foot, I'd yell "PLAY NICE", and heard about 5 voices respond "Okay".
It wasn't too long after our entry that I noticed that I was the only adult in there. Each of these kids had a parent - mostly moms were present at the store(I know this from watching tables of only women stand up and get their kids, a few at a time/over time). One woman seemed disturbed that I was climbing up the playstuff with Lance, and yanked her 2 kids out of the playarea.
But worth noting is that for each of these kids, there was an adult at the store that was doing something other than paying attention to their kid. I cherish the time I've been allowed to spend with my kids. I've witnessed their first everything. Although the kids playing there today were about between 4 and 7 yers old, I think that some parent are really missing out on opportunities to share time with their kids. Time spent with my sons today not only gives me a lifetime of memories, but hopefully will bridge the gap to the future, when they remember not to do drugs, or not to smoke, or all that "I remember when my dad..." stuff that I want them to hold dear.

Shannon

A collection of thoughts....watch where you step please

First of all, I'd like to send a special THANK YOU out to the Saturday Morning Post blog. You can also find their URL on the Blogroll on the right. I had found their blog..loaded with cartoons.. and one caught my attention. There's a dad, getting in the car with his kids, for a long trip...and he explains to them that they can listen to their Disney songs only once....and then it's DADDY's turn. He adds "I hope you like Afrika Bambaataa and the Zulu Nation".
I had just burned a "for the car" cd, and the boys LOVED Planet Rock!

Anyways...it said ther ewas a gift for the first posters to the site....so I commented, and didn't give it much further thought. Low and behold..the same day that I sent out the first Free Lunch that I offered...I received a manila envelope with an adorable snowman notepad and a snowman pencil. The first page thanked me for commenting. Not only was a suprised by the thought/sentiment ...but it must have taken some serious websurfing to track down my address! (I wonder if they used to work for Student Loans! They can find ANYONE ANYWHERE!)

DEEP THOUGHTS AND STUFF:
I always knew that I would make a good father. That I would make a good dad. Since I first received the news that my wife was pregnant, I've had all sorts of topics run though my head. How will I do when it's time to change diapers? How will I do as a full time at home parent? How do I explain God and religion? What pitfalls have I seen others do that I can learn from and avoid raising a schmuck?

But today, I was faced with a topic that, if for only a moment, cross circuited my brain like no other had in a while. It all happened after what was a simple question. SO simple, that it came from my 3 year old. It left his lips like a butterfly leaving a flower....it floated on the breeze as we played outback..and then entered my ears as a gentle whisper...and then BAM!!! Stopped me in my tracks.

What was this simple question, you ask? What could a 3 year old ask that could possible temperarily disable the mental process of a 35 year old man? He walked over to me, holding a small brown colored ball shaped thing, and asked...

"Dada ... is this dog poop?"

I'd like to think that there were first instinct...but 1st, 2nd, and so forth all tried to get out at one time....and I stood there like an frozen idiot.

Ok - first instinct is to take it away from him - until it can be identified. Second insticts says that if it IS poop, while wanting to get it away from him, I sure as hell don't want to hold it in MY hand!

I muttered some unintelligible sounds...then managed "drop it!", sounding like I was auditioning for a police show.

Turns out, it was a dirt covered rock. And here I thought I had most of the "tough" questions of the universe figured out.


Gonna Pay For It
Ok - I have decided to do something that I am not proud of. In the past, I have done this with willing parnters. Sometimes it was fun..sometimes I regreted it afterwards. Sometimes there were cool "toys" involved. Sometimes, I did it all by myself..and had a blast! But, inlight of recent developments at home...I am left with no other options. Finding someone to do it with would only take too long, and mean embarassing myself if the wife finds out. I do have a rep to protect. So...tomorrow I will seek out a "professional", and actually pay for it. It hurts. I've neve rhad to pay for it in my life. Some people have don eit willingly..some have beed begging into it, but never an exchange of money. This is a new low for me.

Tomorrow, I will take my computer (HAL-2006) to BESTBUY and pay $40 for them to install the already installed video card. (Thought I was talking about sex, huh??... If they had that at Walmart, I'd never come home!) They said that if they can "fix" whatever the hell is not allowing the TV tuner part to work, it'll be $40. If they cannot get it to work (it is deamed incompatable with my system) they will charge me nothing, and will allow me to return the video card. I consider myself computer aware. I knwo how to go into bios, how to search for conflicting irq,,,bla bla bla... but it sucks being faced with a "brain" problem and having to pay some OTHER geek to figure it out.

OTHER STUFF:
I got tagged on another blog site....and will try to list all the stuff required of me below. Fo ryou reading, it'll be no time difference...for me typing this..I will have to take a few minutes to track down the other blog....brb...

Ok it was Clares Dad.
I apologize for any other tagging Ive gotten and have not followed up on. I hope to do better this year.

Ok here goes...
Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot.
Cynical Dad
Cape Buffalo
Mr. Big Dubya
Clare's Dad
Adventures Of Darth Daddy
_________________
Select five people to play (but only if they want to).
ok - I suck at selecting people...Some people are flattered..some get pissed off , lik eyou sent them some chain letter email. So I leave this open....if you read this, and want to participate...please do.

What were you doing 10 years ago?
Hmmm 1996. Man, I can't think of a thing. I was still pissed off that music sucked. My almost fatal motorcycle accident was in 93..I has lost alot of weight. I may have (and I say this honestly), been in college and running my own stripper company. I had my own party entertainment company for a for years at this point, (doing children's parties as costumed characters), hired a few female strippers (didn't last long), and had my own 6-man male dancer team (nightclub shows and private parties). I also had recently received my now-wife's foot up my ass to stop talking about my master degree, and actually GO GET IT! SO , I think I was also workign on my MsEd.

What were you doing 1 year ago?
Scan thru the archives... you will find that I was doing pretty much the same thing as I am now. Lance was only 3-4 months old. Logan had just turned 2.

Five snacks you enjoy
FUNYUNS!! The wife hates these! More for me!!
Chocolate Zingers
Pringles
Twizzlers
Gummi bears

Five songs that you know all the lyrics to
Im proud to say almost anything from the 80's! I love music, and have tried to get the kids involved in music as well. I'll often made cd for the car that have a mixture of classical, 70's, funk, disco, country, rap , rock.... whatever. But the only grunge I ventured into was "Teen Spirit". But no one really knows the words to that damn song.

5 things I'd do if I was a millioniare
1. Re-establish my credit
2. Buy a nice farm-like piece of property, far enough in the country that it'd be nice and quiet, but not too far away from a Walmart.
3. Set up trust accounts for my kids and wife.
4. Spoil my mother rotten - new car, new house..the works. (But not a house that is too close to my new country farm estate...let's be realistic here)
5. Track down every single manager that I ever worked under, where the end result of my employment was me quitting or being fired...... Buy every damn company that they are workign for. Fire all of them!! (For reasons that would not allow them to collect unemployment)

5 bad habits you have
1. I casually swear . Not a lot, and not the really really bad ones... but I do need to monitor myself better around the kids. It was fine when they couldn't talk, but some of my phrases have come back to haunt me.
2. KNot giffing a dam aboot myspellin werd when i tipe
3. My temper with Logan. We all lose our cool sometimes....I have never done anything that was not remedied with an apology . But this is something that I must work on . We all should.
4. I am the KING of the half finished project.
5. Since having the kids, I have been procrastinating - and put up holiday decorations the DAY OF the holiday. I got better with this Xmas.... we put the tree up a week before Xmas. But, it is STILL up. It's very pretty, and useful as a big ass night light!

5 things you would never wear/buy again
1. Any computer with has proprietary components
2. An AMD cpu
3. A full sized plastic protective sports cup with jock strap. I started using on that has a combo of plastic and rubber, and it fits soo much better. Also, I started wearing the brief rather than the strap holder. Less moving around, more comfortable - less "insidents"
4. Any food product from Big Lots. One timeI found out that the last 3 mini donuts were moldy - after I had eaten the first 4.
5. ANYTHING with the words ODU / OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY / or DENVER BRONCOS / or PITTSBURG STEELERS. ODU sucks - their grad level counseling dept sucks - and as a died hard Browns fan, I would rather run around naked than ever be seen in a denver or steelers outfit.

Favorite Toys
1. My computer - when the damned tv card works!!
2. All my Star Wars toys - vintage and new - they have been passed on to the boys, and we play with them (together) for hours.
3. My katana. It's just for practice, (not a vintage blade or anything), but it was a goign away present from my first dojo when I was a kid. It's an honor to use it now for iaido class. It's also a miracle that it wasn't lost or destoyed over all this time.
4. Legos / Licoln logs
5. This neat little AIREO mp3 player > Google it , or check it out on ebay. For $100, it's a pretty neat little device. Big memory (by todays standards), pick up radio, can locate hotspots for wifi, wireless transmitter to fm.

(everyone sing along.....)

AND A PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE!

Night all (or as Logan still wishes everyone we meet)....
"HAPPY NEW YEAR. See later alligator...affer while crockidile"

Shannon

SHIT SHIT SHIT

Ok - new video card worked for a short while. I still am getting no problems from Windows applications...but now the tv program won't even open. I'm at a loss.

Guess this one will have to go back too.......and my last resort is that usb tv tuner .

Just can't stop myself

I returned the broke ATI All inwonder card to Bestbuy, and got a refund. Came home...piddle with the old card all damn day long, and finally go tit back to the original problem....only 3 minutes of TV viewing before problems occured. No more blue screens.....this time, the video just dissapeared...POOF!

I finally went back to Bestbuy and bought another card (same kind as before...but not the broke one). I installed it, and all went well. Until I started the TV. This time, I get less than 1 minute before the video freezes, and the sound goes into a loop. Twice already, the damn thing has just shut down and restarted the computer. This sucks!

Not sure what the problem is.....motherboard conflict....gremlins... I figure the USB 2.0 version will be the next and last resort. It's only $99. But TV on the computer is a must have.

Well, back to Hal.

I am such a fuckup

I had to tweak it - had to update - had to get that damn tv tuner working more than for just 4 minutes without blue screening. So here i am....330am...been working on this goddamn computer for 4 hours now (easily), and finally can get on the internet.

I ran to Bestbuy just before they closed and got the newest super dooper all in wonder card....that the computer refuses to recognize. This should make a decent fight tomorrow when I return it.

At one point, I managed to uninstall the video adapter....meaning that I had NO FRIGGIN VIDEO , cept for the set up in the biggining when you start you computer. THe only way to get video back was.....take a guess....completely reinstall Windows. SOAB!!

I need to sleep - I need to dream. J- land, as I shall now call it. Jenna Elfman, Jenny McCarthy, Jennifer Garner, and Jenna Jameson. Perhaps even Julianne Moore, just for good measure.

Ni
gh

t all

A few points of interst

We've had our ups and down recently.

UPS

The other day, we were talking about Logan's first trip to the local library. He started recalling all taht we had done (borrowed a dvd - got some books), when he started calling the place a BOOK-brary. Seemed like a fitting word.

If Logan wants something, you can sing to him that he will not have it. He, inturn, will sing back to you how he needs it, and please can he have it. It's so cool!

Lance has turned into a monkey, and is proud to display his climbing skills. He will stalk a high area, look around, climb up on it (like a chair), and then yell out for everyone to look. So far no falls, but he has taken a liking to his brothers bed (MUST climb the highest side..not the lowest, where you are SUPPOSED to get in).

DOWNS

Logan has been asking to go to a cheapy chinese resteraunt for a few days now. There is a place nearby that has nice sweet/sour chicken and fried rice for only $3 (for lunch). We've gone a few times, and they always make a fuss over him and Lance. Logan particularly likes that they have a freezer/fridge with a pitcher of water in it, and I pour him a cup of water, instead of making him use a sippy cup. We were getting dressed to go their for lunch yesterday, and he kept refusing to get his socks on. I finally told him to forget it, walk around barefoot, and headed off to the kitchen to make hotdogs for lunch. Suprisingly, this didn't seem to phase him. But the hotdogs did. Not at first. He ate a hotdog, then a few hours later had keilbasi for dinner....and then we headed off to the ymca (the whole family). He played in the child-watch area (with Lance) while mommy and I worked out. But afte rwe got home, and he was in bed for an hour, all hell broke loose in his tummy. He started crying, so I rushed in to sooth him. He spit up on his pillow and blankets (actually, on MY pillow and blankets, as he was asleep on the floor). I got him to the living room, where he barfed some more. By his third heave, the smell got to me , and I started gagging, and looking around for something that "I" could throw up in. We got him calmed, and cleaned, and all the nasty blankets out of his room. He laid on the couch with mommy and me until he was asleep. Then, I laid him in his bed. The wife headed off to bed, and not more than an hour later, he came out stying again. I rushed a bowl to him just in time for another blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Cleaned his face....got him situated on the couch. Put in a movie for him to calm him (Homeward Bound), and made sure that his bed was not soiled. As he watched the movie, I fell asleep on the couch with him. Woke up 30 minutes later to see him searching frantically for the blow (that was right next to him), and a fourth BLAAAAAAAAA came out. Besids the distinct smell of BLAAAAA, ther ewas also a hotdog smell. I think we will avoid them for a while.

Another dumbass thing I did....... Ok- let's back track a little bit. Logan just woke up the first time, I saw him spew a bit on his/my bed. The wife woke up and stayed with Logan (and cleaned him) as I cleaned the room and got new bedding. I figured it was best for me to do so, because I saw where he barfed, and which blankets were not effected. By the time I got the bundle of blankets to the potty, she had already dealt with the first container that was used to catch BLAAAAAAAaaaaaa. I tossed the blankets in the bathtub, and saw the container in there....with no throw up in it. After the second time he barfed (and the wife was asleep), I took the new container to the bathroom....saw the old on in the bathtub, and thought "WOW.....how'd she get all that throw up down the drain? Oh well...must have worked". I then proceeded to dump the new containers contense down the shower drain.....and it just sat there. I ran the water, and it still kiinda sat there. I let it sit a minute, then turned to take a leak while I thought. AS soon as I saw the potty, it hit me what a dumbass I was...and that they wife had not disposed of it down the SHOWER drain, but in the potty, like I should have, had I managed to bring along any common sense to the potty.

Tomorrow is friday....so far today, Logan has not had any problems holding down food (and you can bet your ass that I didn't give him any hotdogs either!). If breakfast tomorrow goes well, maybe we'll end up at that chinese place for lunch.
BTW- lance has shown no sigh of anything disagreeing with his tummy. He's been a tad fussy lately, but at least no throwing up and the runs, like big brother.


Shannon

ATI card and updates

I have an All In Wonder video card by ATI. It allows me to watch tv on my pc, record programs, and line in a vcr for transfering vhs tapes to digital (to make dvds). It was the culprit in my video freezing problem, so I had to download new drivers for it. It didn't say so (but a Google search told me) that you must also download a program by Microsoft called .NET 1.1 in order to make the video drivers work properly. I have downloaded both, and so far have had no problems.

Just a note to anyone having a problem with their Catalyst program (it monitors your video 'stuff')..... i fyou are getting an error from yoru startup of WIndows xp that says "Cli.exe failed to open", you need to make sure you have the latest video drivers AND have that .NET program (downloadable from Microsoft).

Short Changed

Hat eto short change the readers..but I'm having problems with my video drivers all of a sudden (since the upgrade). Occasionally (almost every time I run the computer), the video will lock, spazz out...then return with a note saying how it just spazzed, and recovered (now using software drivers rather than hardware settings).
I had a short, but nice entry written when it locked up and never came back. Im afraid to write too much now.

Had a nice 2 days with the famliy.. THe wife returns to work tomorrow. We thoguth Lance was going to take his first steps today, but sat down instead. Soon.. Very soon.
Logan was a gem today (and not in the rough!). My aikido class went well, but the wife didnt have a good time at the club (ymca). She took the kids to the daycare while she went to a biking class with friends, but Lance wouldn't calm down. When it finally did, Logan wouldn't calm down. So she cut her time there short.

Not much else going on. Back to the grind stone for me tomorrow. I've really gotten spoiled over the Xmas break, having the wife get the baby in the mourning and change his diaper (well, I still did this most mournings....but she really did help out the mourings that she pitched in!


Shannon