Saturday, August 04, 2007

We're about ready to take off...

Hey all...

I realize it's been a long time since I blogged, but I really do plan to do better for the next while.

We're about ready to move. For those of you who don't already know, S.A. and I have both accepted jobs in Raeford, NC. Our stuff is actually on it's way there as we speak. We take off Tuesday morning and will be in our new house on Wednesday night.

Though we're bummed that we're moving so far from our families (900 miles, give or take.) we both really believe that this is the best thing for us. It enables S.A. to start teaching and, since we're both working for schools, we'll (hopefully) be able to come back to Michigan for summers.

I'm really thinking of the move as a reset button for our lives. And after years of drama, money troubles, job issues, school, etc... I'm ready for it.


We'll be starting a flickr group so no-one will miss out on any pictures of the Samster growing up. And I promise I'll do better with this blog. (I did find it amazing that people checked in over 200 times since my last post. To those of you who kept checking in, hoping against hope that there'd be a new posting, I have but one thing to say - Google Reader.)

Anyway, I just wanted to take a second to say thanks to everyone who's been supportive of us through this whole process.

Special Thanks to-
Both our families for being a huge help through the moving process.

Matt, Kev, and Casey for helping move that damn piano again.

All my peeps at Stepping Stones for pretending to miss me when I left and for taking such great care of my boyo.

And to everybody else that I'm forgetting to mention because I'm too worked up now.

We love you all.

Laterz

Saturday, June 02, 2007

Sick Day

As a parent, you find that rules become the most important part of your life. Whether it's things you MUST do, like read his 10 favorite books before bed every night, or thinks you MUST NOT do, like give him nuts or Diet Coke, it often feels like you don't really have to think very often when you're dealing with your child because there's probably a very definite rule established for whatever situation you face - so just do it.

A brief side note- The other day, a parent of a three-year-old told me that when their child misbehaves, Their punishment of choice is that their child doesn't get to have a book read to them before bed. My question to them was, "What does your child do that makes you want to turn them into an illiterate for the rest of his/her life?" Honestly, parents can be pretty stupid.

Anyway, as i said, my life is now based on rules. Except today. Today, my son is sick. Mr. Sam has been running a 102-degree temp for most of the last 24 hours. He's just kind of miserable. He has been unwilling to do much of anything but sit an whimper. To that end, my genius wife (and I say that with absolutely no sarcasm)decided that we were going to have dinner while sitting in the tub because he's been unwilling to eat all day and he was finally in a decent mood. Then, when he got out of the tub, even though we're WELL past his bed-time (between 6:30 and 7 pm) he was allowed to watch his new favorite Baby Einstein video. Understand that Sam's less that 15 months old. He is not, as a general rule, allowed to watch any TV at all. We're really trying to keep him away from the TV until he's at least 2, but there are times when he's really grumpy and I guess watch household animals interspersed with weird pet puppets once a month probably won't scar him to badly. Anyway, it certainly has been the ticket tonight.

Pictures of our evening follow-

Laterz.



Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Cop OD's on Pot Brownies

This cop should have just called Sam's Godfather. He could have eased his mind...

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Picture Day


Sam just had his pictures taken for his first birthday. Just thought I'd share-

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Chapter 115- Owen returns (with Poop Calls)

It turns out I'm somewhat self-obsessed. I've spent the last yeay-and-a-half blogging about my job. To the best of my knowledge, not a single person has ever cared less about anything than they would about my job, yet I kept on writing about it because I really wnated to bitch.

I quit that job a month ago. I haven't blogged since.

Obviously, I don't have enough to bitch about now.

So today I've decided to blog again. I've been working in my son's day care for almost a month, now. It rocks. I look forward to going to work every day. I realize that none of you care, but it's important fr me to say it anyway, just so you understand that I'm not kidding when I say I don't have enought to bitch about.

I do, however, have good stories to tell from time to time.

The kids in my room range in age from 4 to 14 months. They have all sorts of hilarious little habits. For example, many of them have very obviously "tells" that let you know when they're pooping. Here are the best four.

4. Sam, age 11 months, (Yeah, my Sam...) will drop anything he's doing amd lie face down on the floor, spread-eagled. He then starts taking very deep breaths. Let him do that for about 1 minute and you know it's time to change his diaper.

3. Charlie, 10 months, can only poop while sitting up. If we notice that he hasn't had a BM yet on a given day, alkl we have to do it sit him up. He'll immediately turn very red in the face and start grunting. Then the room starts to smell.

2. Emily, 13 months, will go to the back corner of the room and hunker down. She doesn't like people to look at her, but it's hard to miss the grunting.

1. The funniest thing I hear every day is what Savanah's (7 months) mom refers to as her "poop call". You can tell she's trying to go because she starts this high-pitched keening whine. It even more obvious when she's finally successful because as she's finally squeezing it out she lets go like a very high-pitched air raid siren. "Woop woop woop!" Honest to God... It's so funny you could die.

I love my job.

Laterz.

Friday, February 23, 2007

People with conscience.

It's been an interesting day. I hate the fact that our society is so celebrity-obsessed. It feels to me like the fact that we hang on every celebrity's word, breathlessly waiting to pounce on them at their first sign of weakness, says really negative things about us. (And don't tell me that I'm a hypocrite because I'm so quick to comment on politicians and, after all, aren't politicians celebrities, too? Politicians work for us. Watching and commenting on them isn't sad. It's called performance evaluation.)

This morning I read Dooce, and she wrote, without question, the best entry she's written in the time I've read her blog. It's about her reasons for not judging Britney Spears. I can't identify with her reasoning, having never suffered from post-partum depression, but I can certainly respect it.

Then, while home at lunch, I watch the episode of the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson I'd tivo'd on Monday Night/Tuesday Morning. His entire monologue was devoted to his reasoning for not making fun of her. It was tremendously heartfelt, sometimes funny, sometimes a bit scolding, tremendously eloquent, and, from start to finish, both touching and thought-provoking. Thank God to YouTube. It's 12-and-a-half minutes long, but it's worth it.



I've often said that I try (and regularly fail) to live my life in a way that would make my grandfather proud. Obviously Heather at Dooce and Craig both have/had great grandparents too.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

ABCs of Music

It's kind of strange. For months, I was up to my eyeballs every day at work. But since I expected for last Friday to be my last day of work here, I spent the week trying to get all my ducks in a row. As a result, since they asked me to stay on one more week, I don't really have a whole hell of a lot to do. Therefore, it's Meme time. I don't know where this is originally from. It's just one of the random things you sometimes find floating around the web.

List your favorite bands (or artists) from A to Z.

A. Alice Cooper
B. The Band
C. Colin Hay
D. David Lee Roth
E. Elton John
F. Fats Domino
G. George Harrison
H. Huey Lewis & the News
I.
Ian Hunter
J. Jeff Lynne
K. Kiss
L. Little Richard
M. Moody Blues
N. New York Dolls
O. Ozzy Osbourne
P. Pete Townshend
Q. Queen
R. Randy Newman
S. Sex Pistols
T. Tom Petty
U. U2
V. Van Morrison
W. Warren Zevon
X. I thought of a couple bands, but nobody I'd willingly listen to.
Y. Yes
Z. ZZ Top

Monday, February 19, 2007

Beating her to the punch.

S.A. and I have pretty divergent taste in movies. To be exact, we have a good friend who serves as each of our "date' when one of us wants to see a movies in which the other has no interest. However, there are lots of movie genres where our taste overlaps. Romantic comedies, as a general rules, tend to fit that category.

On Saturday, S.A. and I went on a belated Valentine's date to see Music and Lyrics. I have no doubt that she'll be posting a movie review in her blog at some point in the near future as she felt rather strongly about the film. But I thought I'd try to beat her to it, just to get my two cents in.

IMDB currently has the user ratings in the mid-6's for Music and Lyrics. We try to check out IMDB before seeing a movie. We find that those user ratings correspond more closely with how we feel than the movie reviews you read in the newspaper.

I felt that was just about right. S.A. felt it was about 5.5 too high.

Let me start by saying a couple things. If someone tells you it's predictable, they're right. If they tell you and both Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore play the same character that they play in every other movie they're in, I can't argue. If they tell you the supposedly "hit" music is less than spectacular, they're spot-on. The thing is, in my ever-so-humble opinion, it doesn't matter.

Now in the interest of full disclosure, I should make sure you all understand one thing. I would happily pay to watch Hugh Grant balance his checkbook. And though I think Drew Barrymore is pretty much talentless, watching her movies, for me, is a little like watching a 5-foot-tall glasses-wearing geek trying to play high-school basketball. I'm not saying he's any good, but I kind of root for him anyway.

The movie IS predictable. Very. It's not gonna win any awards. But I'm okay with that. I LIKE happy endings. I don't like movies with anti-heroes. I don't want to have to sort though symbolism. I respect more complex, nuanced romantic comedies like Lost in Translation. But I don't ENJOY them. So knowing that the two main characters would end up together and would write a hit song in the end before the movie had actually started was good by me. (And if you're now howling that I've slipped spoilers ::GASP:: into my movie review, shut up. If you're honestly interested in seeing this movie but don't already inherently know this stuff, you're an idiot, so I don't want to hear it.)

And as for the music... S.A. complained that the songs in the movie could never be hits because the faux-80s songs were cheesy and insipid. She felt that the supposedly modern songs would never succeed because they were tuneless and slightly insulting. I'm left to assume that she does not, in fact, own a radio. The 80s-style stuff sounded A LOT like a great deal of 80's music. The modern stuff was HORRIBLE. And it sounded EXACTLY like 90% of the crap you hear on the radio today. The "hit" song that Hugh & Drew supposedly wrote was insipid and cutesy and if it was recorded by a couple of the fine folks on American Idol, I guarantee it was be a huge hit. I apologize to anyone who's offended by this, but the vast majority of the music-listening public know absolutely nothing about music. They're not looking for Motzart. (Which is good, because they're not gonna find it anywhere.) And that's okay, too. I am pretty well musically-trained. And I downloaded the soundtrack last night, anyway.

Anyway, when it's all finished, Music and Lyrics is probably not going to make you think. But if you let it, it'll probably make you smile. Unless you're my wife. And she liked XXX, so i don't really care what she thinks.

Laterz.

Friday, February 16, 2007

Oooookaaaaayyyyy...

And so it ends - not with a bang, but with a resounding "WTF???"

I gave my notice today. In all honesty, considering that A) my company doesn't generally accept 2-week notice and B) I'm truly kind of fucking them, I expected to be escorted from the building and deposited on a curb. Instead I get this email sent to all my co-workers.-

Owen is moving on to the education field where he will be warping young children’s minds!

In all seriousness, this is a great opportunity for him and we wish him much success. Meanwhile, he will be finishing off the semester, teaching for us in both Petoskey and TC for some computer classes at night, with possible classes down the road. His last day is next Friday, so if you have any on-going business with TLC, please contact him before then.

I don't get it. I've been treated, to be blunt, like shit for the past few months, but now that I'm leaving it's "Congratulations! Would you like to continue doing the part of your job you actually enjoy and be paid three times as much as you've been making?"

Honest to God... I need a drink.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Huh

It occurs to me that I started blogging about a month after I started working with my current employer. I can't help but wonder if I'll do any kind of decent job keeping this thing up to date when I work somewhere that doesn't require me to sit in front of a computer with nothing productive to do for hours at a time.

Not that anyone really cares, I suppose.

I'm outta here! Well, almost...

Let me start by saying thanks to everyone who dropped me a line to commiserate about my work situation. I truly appreciate the support. Even I didn't realize how stressed my has been making me until I reached the end of my week of vacation and realized that I'd forgotten to take my anti-depressants for a week and I still felt the best I've felt, mentally, in a very long time.
We had a tough weekend, as S.A. had to go to the emergency room on Saturday with severe abdominal pain and didn't emerge from the hospital until Tuesday, having had multiple gall stones removed and still needing another operation.

The good news is that I was officially offered a new job on Friday. Needless to say, I accepted. I'll be getting up earlier, paid ALOT less, and I'll no longer have the kind of job title that makes you want to hand out business cards. I couldn't be happier.

I'll be giving my notice tomorrow. It'll be one-week notice. I currently work for an agency that's notorious for accepting people's two-week notice and then cheerful escorting them out of the building. They're very concerned about corporate espionage. Someone should probably point out to them that employees would be less likely to sabotage them if they didn't treat people like shit. I'm giving one-week notice in an effort not to be a complete dick, but I couldn't afford to risk going two weeks with no paycheck.

On an unrelated note, my mouth f***ing HURTS. I had a dentist appointment this morning to put in a crown. I'd like to point out that my mouth felt FINE when I went into the dentist office. Only now that my "problem"is "fixed" and I in significant pain. Not only were they unable to get me completely numb, but now that what numbness I was blessed with has worn off, the entire right side of my face hurts. If any of you intrepid readers feels like driving to Northern Michigan to share any good painkillers, I won't argue.

Oh yeah, one more note- Dooce posted an entry yesterday that is one of the best descriptions I've ever read of why being a parent is so great. Don't miss it.

Anyhoo... It's up to 18 degrees today. A friggin' heat wave, so everybody enjoy the balmy weather. I'll check back in later.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Capitalism Sucks.

Sorry I haven't been around for the past couple weeks. I know it's been way too long since I've written anything, if only because S.A.'s cousin Amy has blogged twice since I last wrote anything and she only blog's about once every 3 months or so...

It's been kind of stressful couple weeks. My job is kicking my ass. Everything we do is driven by the almight dollar. In itself, that's frustrating for me. I'd probably be a socialist, given complete choice in the matter. But what's worse is that even when our sole criterion for decision-making is "How much money will this make/cost us?", we can't even make rational decisions within that limited framework. Never in my life have a worked at an agency that was so penny-wise, pound-foolish.

What makes it worse is that they've spent thee past two weeks driving it home to me that my only value to the company is how much money I bring in to the company. My job title is EDUCATION COORDINATOR! I'm supoosed to be the educational arm of the company. Exempt from the nickel-and-dime crap. WTF???

Yesterday, I got email from my boss explaining to me that my priorities were screwed up because I stayed up at night with my 10-month-old son, who has an ear infection, and is not sleeping well right now. Evidently, my attempts to pull my weight on the family front (This is especially important right now, considering the fact that S.A. is student-teaching and really needs her sleep) inconvenience my boss, (who is, by the way, female) because she feels it's hurting my productivity. To quote- "believe it or not, although maybe not said, you’re not kidding anyone here, or in your personal life that you’re pulling it off."

As you might guess, I'm a bit pissed. Luckily, I'll find out in the next couple days if I'm being offered a new job. All indications look good. If that happens, I'll definitely take it, even though it pays less with worse benefits. And I'll definitely be leaving with no notice.


As far as I know, no-one from my company knows I have this blog. I suppose if I'm wrong, I'm probably getting canned for this entry. Well, at least I can hit 'em for unemployment.

F*** 'em.

F***ing f***ers.

p.s. It should probably be said that I truly like the vast majority of people with whom I work and so I certainly would never do anything to make their lives more difficult. My problems are all specifically with one person. F***er.

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Silly rabbit...

So, as it turns out, when King Arthur uses the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch to defeat the killer rabbit in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, it may not have been overkill after all...

Holy Crap...

Every year I complain to S.A. that drivers turn into friggin' MORONS as soon as it snows. After seeing this, I think I may just stay indoors until spring.


Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Jeeezus.....

Sometimes it's like I work in a alternate universe. I almost wish I was a cartoonist, because I'm pretty sure my office would make a good comic.

I just walked up to the front desk to tell the receptionist something. I witnessed a number of things that seemed a little out of the ordinary.
  • The receptionist (Hereafter referred to as "1".) was standing in front of the bathroom door, holding it shut, so as to make it difficult for her (and my) boss to get out.
  • My admin person (Hereafter referred to as "2".)was standing next to her giving her instructions about how to effectively grasp the doorknob.
  • 1 noted "It stinks! Who farted???" 2 replied "Must be Gib!" (Gib is the owner, Dr. M. Neither of them would call him Gib to his face if their lives depended on it. Evidently they get more familiar when they see his taillight leving the parking lot.) Both of them proceeded to literally roll on the floor laughing.
  • 1 jumped up and grabbed a matchbook, ostensibly to relieve the odor she'd complained about. 2 informed her that she's allergic to sulphur and would be in dire straits if a math was lit anywhere near her. I've never heard of anyone being allergic to sulphur. I am, however, smart enough to keep my mouth shut.
Side Note: 2 is also, by her estimation, allergic to all plants but, strangely enough, no animals, subject to debilitating headaches and backaches, and was, at an earlier point in her life, a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces specializing in Covert Ops. Very covert, obviously, because I don't recall there being many female Special Forces in the 80's. In fact, according to the Army, women are still prohibited from being in Special Forces. All that said, I have no doubt that 2 honestly believes she was in Special Ops. 2 is a very good admin person. She is, however, nutty as a fruitcake.
  • 1 proceeded to light a match, cackling maniacally.
  • 2 started running in circles in the lobby, hacking and coughing like a tubercular chain-smoker in a burning house.
  • 2 ran down the hall to her office as 1 sat in her chair, screaming with laughter.

At this point I left to come back to my office. I really wish this kind of scene was a little more uncommon around here.

Laterz

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Bits & Pieces

The world's cutest child is sick again. He sees Dr. M this morning at 9:30. I'll keep everyone posted.

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It turns out that I'm very fond of Chile Picante Corn Nuts. I realize no-one cares, but I just felt like sharing.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

I'm back

So, two weeks later I checked back in...
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When I picked Sam up from daycare yesterday, one of the gals there told me that they couldn't stop laughing at his all day. She wondered if I could explain a rather peculiar behavior that he had been exhibiting.

It seems that every time one of the kids at day care began to cry, Sam would scoot over to them and yell in their face. He smiled the whole time, so he didn't seem to be upset, but he was very consistent about it.

Misc. Baby: "WAAAAAHHHHH!!!!"

Sam: "AAAHHHHHH!!!!!"

I was quick to blame S.A. who loves to play "the Yelling Game" with him. She defends herself by saying that Grandma (My mom, who was a preschool consultant and speech therapist for years.) says that you're supposed to repeat what babies say back to them, so when Sam vocalizes loudly, she just responds in kind.

Still the mental picture is just great.

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Last night, as she was feeding Sam, S.A. looked at Sam's hair and asked me "What was that haircut called that all the actors had in the 90's? You know the one George Clooney had that was short with a straight-line around the forehead? The Nero?"

"The Caesar, dear. Wrong emperor..."

Maybe y'all don't find it nearly as funny as I did, but I love the idea of the hairdresser who fiddled while Rome burned.