Was I bored? No.
Did I get a lot done? Yes.
Was it fun? For sure.
Would I do it all the time? Hell no.
My daughter was sick for a few days this week. The doctor didn't want her hanging around my pregnant wife too much or around any other kids. She might have had a virus and didn't want to risk getting anyone else sick. Time for Big Money to step up and take his turn at home.
My mom was a babysitter when I was really young and a teacher/director at a preschool as I grew up. There were other people around to watch my sister and I if my mom couldn't do it herself. My grandmas, aunts, uncles, etc. I cannot recall my dad taking off work to stay home with us. It just didn't happen. Too many other people were available. So the last few days were a little foreign to me. I took sick days but still had to work. When you depend on commission for your livelihood you sometimes have to take dramatic measures. 2 year old daughters make working from home very trying.....thank God for naps.
Having just recently gone through this/gotten to experience this wonderful gift, I got to thinking about stay-at-home parents. I always wanted to be a dad.....and to stay at home was seemingly the best thing ever. My buddy (Herbert T. Wattenagle) and I shared the same dream: Daddy-Time Daycare. It was a genius idea. Take the kids fishing, bowling, to the park, etc. Have a great time all day, everyday (all day, everyday). Never thought about what would happen if the kids were sick. Or if it was rainy outside. Or snow. What then. You have to be creative. But you also have to practical. Those weren't in the plans.
If I had to stay at home all the time I couldn't try to work as well. I'd have to give it my all for my kids' sake. There's no way I could split time. Too busy with both to make it work. Lil Penny would be a braindead TV watching fool by the time she was 3 and I'd be broke because I lost out on many things I didn't have time to work on. Separation between kid and work. There has to be it. Otherwise no work and all play make Money a weird boy.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Coming Soon
We hadn't been trying, but we weren't preventing. If it happened then so be it. We'd be happy if it happened but not stressed out if it didn't. I wasn't too sure how happy we'd be......I soon found out.
Stacy took a couple pregnancy tests early on. She took one in December, her first month after getting off birth control. We weren't expecting to get pregnant yet. Chances were minimal. Results were negative. Kinda bummed us out a little but not too bad. It could be worse. Getting pregnant isn't as easy as it seems. The stars have to align just so. And even then the percentages get smaller when you factor in about a thousand other things that can throw everything off. So one month of not really trying but not preventing (which everyone knows to mean that you're trying.....not fooling anyone) was no big deal. Chalk it up to a fun month!
But the next month was a little different. We had a feeling. Stacy couldn't wait to take a test. I was on my way to the Blues game with my buddies when I got the call. "Hey baby. What's up?" "Nothing." "You ok?" "Yep!" "No freaking way!!!!" "Yep!!!" That's pretty much how I heard I was going to be a dad. Awesome. Driving down highway 40 with my hair on fire. Tears streaming down my face. My foot slammed against the gas pedal which was now becoming a permanent fixture on the floor. Holy shit......we did it. It worked. Now....settle down. You have to play it cool for a while. You don't want to give it away. You don't want to overlook the game you were going to see with your buddies. Turn it off. You'll kiss her when you get home.....most likely drunk (yep).
From then on things started happening really fast. We told people a few weeks later. Started planning seriously for the baby to come. Painting, buying furniture, babyproofing the house, etc. Shit was getting weird. Stacy was getting big. And then all of a sudden it was time. Watching soccer downstairs with my Schmoop and it was cut short. Get to the hospital and sure as hell....we were having a baby. A few hours went by, a few more, and then after midnight Avery Kate was born. And the first thing she did.......dominated the nurse. She wouldn't cry. She was content to just lay there. Babies have to cry to get all that crap out of their throat/lungs. The nurse tried pinching her feet and hands. Nothing. She flicked her feet.....hard. Hard enough to make me want to punch the nurse. Not my Lil Penny though. She just stared right at the nurse and I swear she mouthed "Eff You!" I swear. I know it. Stared ahead. The nurse finally just had to freeze her out by making her cold. Still wanted to punch that freaking nurse.
Now my Lil Penny is 2 and she's going to be a big sister. How the hell are we going to deal with that?!?!? It's getting to be about time for potty training....not cool. Stacy has been sick as hell.....not cool. Avery is becoming more and more 2......not cool. But I get to paint again, buy furniture, and maintain the babyproofing. It's happening. And when I'm sitting there with my daughter, watching Bubble Guppies or some other terrible show she loves, and my wife tells me it's time.....oh man......it's going to be so much freaking fun!!!
Stacy took a couple pregnancy tests early on. She took one in December, her first month after getting off birth control. We weren't expecting to get pregnant yet. Chances were minimal. Results were negative. Kinda bummed us out a little but not too bad. It could be worse. Getting pregnant isn't as easy as it seems. The stars have to align just so. And even then the percentages get smaller when you factor in about a thousand other things that can throw everything off. So one month of not really trying but not preventing (which everyone knows to mean that you're trying.....not fooling anyone) was no big deal. Chalk it up to a fun month!
But the next month was a little different. We had a feeling. Stacy couldn't wait to take a test. I was on my way to the Blues game with my buddies when I got the call. "Hey baby. What's up?" "Nothing." "You ok?" "Yep!" "No freaking way!!!!" "Yep!!!" That's pretty much how I heard I was going to be a dad. Awesome. Driving down highway 40 with my hair on fire. Tears streaming down my face. My foot slammed against the gas pedal which was now becoming a permanent fixture on the floor. Holy shit......we did it. It worked. Now....settle down. You have to play it cool for a while. You don't want to give it away. You don't want to overlook the game you were going to see with your buddies. Turn it off. You'll kiss her when you get home.....most likely drunk (yep).
From then on things started happening really fast. We told people a few weeks later. Started planning seriously for the baby to come. Painting, buying furniture, babyproofing the house, etc. Shit was getting weird. Stacy was getting big. And then all of a sudden it was time. Watching soccer downstairs with my Schmoop and it was cut short. Get to the hospital and sure as hell....we were having a baby. A few hours went by, a few more, and then after midnight Avery Kate was born. And the first thing she did.......dominated the nurse. She wouldn't cry. She was content to just lay there. Babies have to cry to get all that crap out of their throat/lungs. The nurse tried pinching her feet and hands. Nothing. She flicked her feet.....hard. Hard enough to make me want to punch the nurse. Not my Lil Penny though. She just stared right at the nurse and I swear she mouthed "Eff You!" I swear. I know it. Stared ahead. The nurse finally just had to freeze her out by making her cold. Still wanted to punch that freaking nurse.
Now my Lil Penny is 2 and she's going to be a big sister. How the hell are we going to deal with that?!?!? It's getting to be about time for potty training....not cool. Stacy has been sick as hell.....not cool. Avery is becoming more and more 2......not cool. But I get to paint again, buy furniture, and maintain the babyproofing. It's happening. And when I'm sitting there with my daughter, watching Bubble Guppies or some other terrible show she loves, and my wife tells me it's time.....oh man......it's going to be so much freaking fun!!!
Country Giants
I've written before about songs and what they've meant to me, how they affected me, etc. I completely overlooked a whole genre, one in which I am very fond as well. As the barmaid in "The Blues Brothers" says, "Oh, we got both kinds. We got country AND western."
You can't help but like Kenny. The man is probably the most entertaining entertainer of the last 10 years. Mr. Chesney has his hits, hit big hits, and his mega hits. The man has made some great music. I have a little soft spot for "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy." Not his best work, but I love it. It IS country music....at least the way I like it for the most part. Fun, stupid, tells a story, talking about farm equipment: it has it all. I remember hearing it when I was younger. I was 16 and driving on my way to school. Rocked it out. Rocked it out the next time I heard it too. And every time I hear it now I rock it out again.
Martina McBride can flat out sing. No question about it. The chick has pipes that are almost unparalleled in all of MUSIC, let alone country music. I get goosebumps on probably half of her songs. The notes, the length, the clarity, the purity. I have nothing but appreciation for Martina. And her song "Independence Day" brings it home. She has some wiggles in her voice to drive it home on the back end of the song, just to make sure you're paying attention. Love that voice. Man. Goosebumps.
Brad Paisley is sneaking in there in my top country artists these days. He's got some really fun lyrics and full songs. "Alcohol," "Water," and "I'm Still A Guy"......all great. He's not afraid to have fun with his stuff. My favorite, and probably most influential (for many reasons) is "I'm Gonna Miss Her." Sometimes a man has to do what he wants. Sometimes a man has to make the tough call. Sometimes a man has to go fishing and worry about the consequences later. No worries out on the lake. I know I've taken those words as advice from time to time.....in past lives of course.
Reba.....a goddess to country music. She brought me up. My mom, sister and dad all loved her. There was no escaping her while I was growing up. She dominated. Turn it up and let her rip. She made us cry with "She Thinks His Name Was John." She got us jacked up and hating the stupid people of the South with "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia." And she rocked our world with "Fancy." That was the song. That was the song that was played over and over and over. She killed it. Good story, good lyrics, great emotion, awesome voice.....nailed it. I can remember hearing it while standing in my living room just getting totally pumped, goosebumps jumping up and down my back, hair standing on my head. I wanted to be Fancy....only the guy version (not too sure).
And Garth. The man has more hits, money, alter-egos than he knows what to do with. Take your pick on practically any song and it meant something to me. The live albums with the biggest hits are the go-to Garth songs, but there are some lesser known songs that have stuck with me the most. He's kind of like Michael Jackson to me in that way, only not (and on the same level). You might know "Thunder Rolls," "Friends in Low Places," and maybe even "Standing Outside the Fire." He just didn't know how to screw up a song for a while back then. Everything was great. The one that still gives me chills, the one that still gives me that nostalgic feeling...."The Night I Called The Old Man Out." I never got into a fight with my dad and I think this song had something to do with it. The consequences, the fear, the respect. Gripping song. Love you dad.....don't hit me.
You can't help but like Kenny. The man is probably the most entertaining entertainer of the last 10 years. Mr. Chesney has his hits, hit big hits, and his mega hits. The man has made some great music. I have a little soft spot for "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy." Not his best work, but I love it. It IS country music....at least the way I like it for the most part. Fun, stupid, tells a story, talking about farm equipment: it has it all. I remember hearing it when I was younger. I was 16 and driving on my way to school. Rocked it out. Rocked it out the next time I heard it too. And every time I hear it now I rock it out again.
Martina McBride can flat out sing. No question about it. The chick has pipes that are almost unparalleled in all of MUSIC, let alone country music. I get goosebumps on probably half of her songs. The notes, the length, the clarity, the purity. I have nothing but appreciation for Martina. And her song "Independence Day" brings it home. She has some wiggles in her voice to drive it home on the back end of the song, just to make sure you're paying attention. Love that voice. Man. Goosebumps.
Brad Paisley is sneaking in there in my top country artists these days. He's got some really fun lyrics and full songs. "Alcohol," "Water," and "I'm Still A Guy"......all great. He's not afraid to have fun with his stuff. My favorite, and probably most influential (for many reasons) is "I'm Gonna Miss Her." Sometimes a man has to do what he wants. Sometimes a man has to make the tough call. Sometimes a man has to go fishing and worry about the consequences later. No worries out on the lake. I know I've taken those words as advice from time to time.....in past lives of course.
Reba.....a goddess to country music. She brought me up. My mom, sister and dad all loved her. There was no escaping her while I was growing up. She dominated. Turn it up and let her rip. She made us cry with "She Thinks His Name Was John." She got us jacked up and hating the stupid people of the South with "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia." And she rocked our world with "Fancy." That was the song. That was the song that was played over and over and over. She killed it. Good story, good lyrics, great emotion, awesome voice.....nailed it. I can remember hearing it while standing in my living room just getting totally pumped, goosebumps jumping up and down my back, hair standing on my head. I wanted to be Fancy....only the guy version (not too sure).
And Garth. The man has more hits, money, alter-egos than he knows what to do with. Take your pick on practically any song and it meant something to me. The live albums with the biggest hits are the go-to Garth songs, but there are some lesser known songs that have stuck with me the most. He's kind of like Michael Jackson to me in that way, only not (and on the same level). You might know "Thunder Rolls," "Friends in Low Places," and maybe even "Standing Outside the Fire." He just didn't know how to screw up a song for a while back then. Everything was great. The one that still gives me chills, the one that still gives me that nostalgic feeling...."The Night I Called The Old Man Out." I never got into a fight with my dad and I think this song had something to do with it. The consequences, the fear, the respect. Gripping song. Love you dad.....don't hit me.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Lack of Posts
Sorry.......been a little caught up with traveling and such. Should have a couple for you guys to read by tomorrow afternoon.
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