Regrets.

We all have them!
With the recent passing of Thanksgiving I'm sure we have all taken time to think about what it is that we are thankful for. That's what the holiday is for of course. It is just too bad that we don't take the time to be thankful for what we have every day. The fact is, most of us don't take that time. I believe that I'm starting to, and maybe it comes with being a little older, but I think I realize that I have it pretty good in life. And not just on Thanksgiving.
What Thanksgiving has made me stop and think about are the regrets that I have in life. Yes, I have regrets. And I have a lot of them. I don't think anyone would be human if they didn't have things from their past that they didn't regret. I don't think that there are things that I HAVE done that I regret, but rather the things I regret are things I HAVE NOT done. Taking chances and putting myself on the line is the sort of thing where I've fallen short in my life. That is what I regret. Now don't get me wrong, I've said it all along that I would not change anything from my past because it has led me to here. I've got the family I always dreamed of. It's just that I regret not taking care of things earlier in life that could have made things easier for my family today. The biggest example I can give is the fact that I do not have a college degree. Well, you can get technical and say that I do have a degree. I have an Associates Degree, but as many of you know, that doesn't get you much in life. You need at least a Bachelor's Degree. Especially to do what I've always dreamed of doing. Teaching.
So, I regret not having the drive or ambition to finish my degree when I have had a number of opportunities to do so. I've always been afraid of something, I'm not sure what, and it has held me back.
How does it affect me as a SAHD?
Well, I'm really glad you asked that. I consider myself to be a fairly intelligent person, and that makes me able to see the error of my ways. It also makes me able to help my kids as they grow up. I can teach them how to live life without regrets. At least not the type of regret that I have. I can teach them to go for things, to put themselves out there. I can teach them that it's okay to be afraid, but not to let that fear paralyze you. I can also teach them that It's never too late to fix old regrets. I can do that by finding a way to get back into school and finish the degree that I have always dreamed of having. If I can show them it will go a lot father than just telling them. That is one of my new goals in life. To get my college degree so that I can tell my kids that it's never too late to chase your dreams.
Life can change in an instant.
A lot of this thankfulness and regret thinking has been brought on by the recent holiday. However, a lot has been brought on by an article in Sports Illustrated that I read recently. In the November 29, 2010 issue there is an article about a young lady that really touched me. I put a link to it here in case you wanted to check it out. It was written by Chris Ballard about Jill Costello, a coxswain for the Cal crew team. I really know nothing about crew other than they row a boat. So, next to nothing. Well this young lady eventually passed away from lung cancer even though she had never smoked in her life. It started with some abdominal discomfort and then just got worse from there.  "Jill had gone from being a carefree college student to being told she probably had nine months to live." Well reading this just made me really realize even more fully that we are here for such a short time, and it can be taken from us in an instant. It made me go back to the issue of regret. I don't want to be told tomorrow that I have nine months to live and know that I never gave my full effort to accomplishing the things I've always wanted to in life. More importantly, I want my kids to not have any real regrets. I want them to live life without fear of regret. I want them to be happy and know that they always gave their best effort at what they are trying to do.
Now, with all of this being said, I want to make clear that I am thankful for all that I have in life and hope that you are too.
Have a great day and live life without regrets today!

Insanity!

Who is the one that is insane?
I think it was Einstein who defined insanity as repeating an act, expecting to get different results. That makes sense to me. I have mentioned on a number of occasions that my son is a little, let's just say special. His behavior makes me chuckle, scream, cry and rejoice every day. And that's just before I make him breakfast. All day every day is an adventure with this crazy little boy. As I mentioned here, I think that he is from another planet at times. 
My son is so amazing, let me just make that clear right now. For a while my wife and I were starting to get worried about his lack of speech. Well now, he's really starting to get it. Over just the last couple of days he has started saying things like never before. Sure, you still have to know him to know just what it is that he is saying, but it's an improvement. His communication level is WAY better than what it was. The real problem is the fact that I think he is just not interested in hearing what I have to say. I take that back. He hears what I have to say. He chooses not to LISTEN to it. There are a number of events that happen every day in our house that leads to the same consequences for my son. EVERY SINGLE DAY!
Every day he climbs up to our computer desk at some point in the day and pushes buttons at a random and crazy sequence. I don't just mean the keyboard either. Sometimes it's on the monitor, or the tower, or the power cord. Generally something that he's not supposed to touch. He knows that he's not supposed to do this, yet he does. EVERY DAY.
Every day he climbs up on an end table and reaches up and messes with our DVD player that is on top of our entertainment center. He has broke the cover to the tray that holds the DVDs while they are playing. He has stopped movies mid-play. He can reach the cable box from this spot as well. He has turned it off during the middle of games that I am watching. That can not be tolerated! He knows he's not supposed to touch this stuff. He does it anyway. EVERY DAY.
Every day I punish him for the mentioned acts. I usually will swat his hands, or pop his behind. I speak in a louder than usual voice, and put him in his timeout spot for a bit. This usually stops him from doing it again. Kind of. Not really though. He'll be back for more later. The next thing he messes with is the electrical cord to a light. He knows he's not supposed to touch it. He does it anyway. EVERY DAY! I punish him. He cries. He does it again.
He does the same things every day, and gets punished the same way every day. He has to be insane right? How can a kid keep doing the same things that get him punished every day and not realize that he's not doing anything that is going to give him different results? I just don't get it!
Then it hit me!
So I'm thinking about this problem today and the thought struck me that I keep punishing him for these things and it's not getting different results in the least bit.  So really, who's more insane? Him or me?
I'll let you be the judge of that! 

My favorite Thanksgiving traditions.

It's a list entry!
As Thanksgiving gets ever closer, it has made me think about a lot of things. Mostly memories. I've thought about all of the things that I've enjoyed over the years about Thanksgiving, and all of the things I now miss. It's made me want to come up with the things that I found most memorable about the holiday, so that is what I've done. The following is a list of my five favorite traditions from Thanksgiving. The thing that has to be considered is that this list is fluid. It can change as soon as this Thursday. The items on this list may not be a "tradition," but rather just an occurrence from Thanksgiving. With that said, here goes.
5. Playing cards after dinner on my father's side of the family.
There was a tradition that carried on for probably ten or more years at our Thanksgiving dinner. Every year my Dad's side of the family would gather at my Grandparents' house and have a big Turkey dinner. It was always awesome and well attended. My Dad had three brothers and two sisters, and all six siblings had at least three two kids. There were times when there were 15 or more kids under the age of 16 there. Well, after dinner we would play a card game, usually called Pass the Ace. I won't go into the rules and details of the game, but it was ALWAYS fun. There was a small amount of money involved, but that wasn't the point. We had a blast, and the thing is, we are a LOUD family. I miss hearing my Grandmother, who has now passed, call someone a dirty name. Something you can only do in a family without starting a brawl. I miss being a teenager and thinking I was grown up because I got to play cards with the adults. I miss having the entire side of the family in one place. I looked forward to that card game as much as I did anything else. I always thought it was the competitor in me, but it was really the family man in me.
 4. Thanksgiving 2003!
Let me just set the scene. I am with my soon to be wife, and not with my family for the first time ever on Thanksgiving. I am at my in-laws house outside in the driveway with my father-in-law, and brother-in-law. Now remember, those titles are not official yet, so we will call them J and K. At the time J and K liked to drink a little. They had decided to deep fry the turkey for the first time that year. I had never been around anyone who was deep frying a turkey. I had heard A LOT of horror stories about people burning down houses like this. Well, in their slightly altered state of mind, J and K put too much oil in the fryer. As they dropped the bird in, I watched in horror as oil ran like lava from a volcano down the side of that fryer! I thought for sure the house, garage, block, city, ect. was going up in flames! Nothing happened. In fact they thought it was a little odd that the oil would run over it like that, but they never panicked, and everything went fine. We had an amazing tasting turkey and a great overall meal. I was afraid that at some point in my life I was going to have to learn how to use a fire extinguisher in order to spend the holidays with my in laws, but all is well!
3. The food!
Let's just be honest here, I like to eat. It is one of the main reasons I've ended up like this. First, there is the turkey. I'm not sure how someone can not love to eat turkey on Thanksgiving. I understand some people just don't like it, but it makes no sense to this guy. Secondly, there is the mashed potatoes. I would eat mashed potatoes every single day. When you add turkey gravy to it, well damn, that's just good. You can add all sorts of sides from there, but really all you NEED is turkey and mashed potatoes with gravy. That's my entire meal if need be. Sure, I can eat some pie later, but I don't have to. Just more turkey and potatoes. I can't wait until Thursday!
2. The Detroit Lions!
I think that is says a lot about me that I have put this "team" this far up on the list. I have a deep, sick love affair with the Lions, and it is never more on display than on Thanksgiving. We all know that the Lions play every year on Thanksgiving, and that it drives some people crazy to have to watch the Lions play. Including ESPN anchor Mike Greenberg. Greeny has campaigned openly to get the Lions removed from the annual Thanksgiving game, and I want to dismember his head for it. I hope that somehow he gets his hands on this tiny little blog and hears what I have to say. Greeny, leave my Lions alone!!! I get to see them play on national TV once a year right now, and if you have your way, that will go away. What do you care really? Most people are busy during the time that the Lions play and don't even really watch the game. Leave the suffering to us Lions fans. We know what we are getting into going into the game, so it's our own fault. You on the other hand Greeny are the one with the problem. If you don't want to watch the Lions, then don't. Just shut up about getting my team off from the TV. Otherwise, I really like Greeny Plus Greenies team, The Jets, should have lost to my Lions this year.
1. My wife and kids!
As I said before starting the countdown, this is my list and it's fluid. Seeing how I have been a family man for only a portion of my life it may be hard to consider this a tradition. However, the three people that have touched my life in unexplainable ways will ALWAYS be there on Thanksgiving. I don't know what the future holds for my family and I, but I do know that the plan is to make the most amazing memories on Thanksgiving every year. I want my kids to look back on Thanksgivings from their youth and have great memories of it like I do. I hope they get as much joy from spending time with family members as I have. Even if Thanksgiving 1988 was the last time I seen my uncle, it is a great memory. Thanksgiving is of course a time for thanks, and as it approaches, I give thanks for the opportunity to make memories with my wife and kids.
With that, I ask, what are your favorite Thanksgiving memories or traditions? I would love to know of any cool ideas that my family and I could try and make new memories with.
Thanks, have a great night and see you tomorrow!

My Job

What is my role?
Over the course of the last few days I have been doing a lot of thinking about a certain subject. As I have mentioned, I have been dealing with some personal health issues, and it has made writing this blog a little difficult for me to do. I feel better today, and it made me want to put down here in blog world just what it is that has been rumbling around in this crazy, messed-up head of mine. 
I have been giving a lot of thought to what my role is as a parent in my little family model we have here. Now, I'm sure I'm not the first SAHD to go through this same thought process, but it's not that I'm questioning my worth. I'm starting to wonder what role I SHOULD play. 
Moodiness.
I think it would be safe for me to say that over the last week I have been a little, I guess cranky would be the best word for it. I don't mean for that to be the case, it's just when you are in the amount of pain that I have been in, it's hard to be patient. And just to be clear, the amount of pain I have been in, is not crippling. It kind of was last weekend, but over the course of the week, it's been more of an annoyance type of thing. Maybe a six on the pain scale to ten. Enough to make me less than patient with other aspects of my life. Up to and including my two wonderful children. Little things that they do or don't do have been driving me a little wacko! I have always been less than patient, but I know I've been worse than normal lately. I've apologized, but how much does a five and two year old get the apology really? They just know that Daddy has been yelling more, and that they don't like it. 
Anyways, by being more impatient than normal, my kids have actually been behaving a little better than normal. Because of that I have been wondering if maybe I should be more of a disciplinarian. Maybe they respond to that better. Then, I remember that NOBODY likes to be yelled at. Even if they respond best to it. So, I think maybe I should trend more towards being their buddy. Like I have a lot in their young lives. They respond to that I think. Or, should I go for the middle ground? I don't know really. 
Then it hit me! The answer is yes! Yes to all of the questions I had. Yes to all of the approaches I should take. I should take the approach that works best at that very moment. I know that sounds like giving them inconsistent results, and perhaps that's right. However, my job is to be their father, and my definition of that is to keep those kids safe, happy and well adjusted. To make them valuable contributors to society. And as I mentioned, safe with me. If that means yelling at them for playing with the light plug, that's what it means. If that means letting them crawl all over their nearly crippled Daddy the next minute, that's what it means. If it means, taking a hard-ass approach to something one minute in order to make a point, and letting something slide the next, so be it. It's my job to know my kids, and know what the moment calls for. I can say with 100% certainty that there are going to come times in life where I really don't know what the moment calls for. And, I'm going to screw it up. Lord knows I already have. It's what you do after those mistakes that really matters. AND THAT IS WHAT I'M GOING TO TEACH MY KIDS! 
I would really like to read feedback on this topic if you have any. I started this blog with part of my goal for it being to learn new and better parenting skills. So, if anyone out there thinks I'm full of dog crap with this idea, I want to know it. I'd like to know what other good ideas are that you use to define your role as a parent. Any advise is appreciated.
Also, the title of this post go to remembering a song from a while back, so I linked to it here.  I hope you enjoy the song, and have a great night.
 

Tiger Woods.

Is he great?
I have always rooted for Tiger on the golf course. Against every wish of my father, but I have rooted for him nonetheless. I think the reason I have been a fan is that I very much appreciate excellence. I believe I'm like my Dad in that way. He always rooted for Jack Nicklaus. Nicklaus was the greatest golfer of his generation, and for now, the greatest golfer of all time. So, it's just one more thing that my Dad and I disagree on. What we don't disagree on however is that it's not just what a man does on the golf course, or the football field, baseball diamond, in the board room or wherever else that defines him. It's what he does with his life that really matters. To me, and my Dad, it's what you do as a husband and a father that defines you. It is for that reason that I find what Tiger Woods did to his family to be reprehensible. By committing adultery, he hurt the three people that are most important in his life. His wife and his kids. He lied to them every single day, and that is not going to be easy to explain when the day comes that he has to own up to his now young children about his past.
Tiger has undoubtedly been more than successful on the golf course, and in the business sector. He has failed in his personal life however. So, I ask again, Is he great?
Can he be forgiven?
I believe that we all make mistakes in life. Weather it be big or small, what really matters is owning up to the mistake, and making sure it doesn't happen again. That in my opinion is pretty much the definition of learning and growing. And, if that's not what we are doing, then just what are we doing? If we are not learning and growing as people, as parents, as sons and daughters, then what are we really doing? That is why I believe we are all deserving of second chances in life. I know that opens up a whole different can of worms about the severity of someones' acts being deserving of a second chance. So, I will say it here. NO, someone who deliberately hurts, kills, rapes, or causes emotional and psychological harm to another person, intentionally, DOES NOT DESERVE A SECOND CHANCE! Did Tiger Woods do any of these things? I don't believe he did. I think if you know enough about the situation, and listen to and read his explanations, you will know that he didn't do any of the things he did with the intention of hurting his wife and kids. Like I said, I find the act of adultery to be just about as bad as it gets. The man cheated on his wife. And to me, that means he cheated on his kids just as much. I would never be able to look any member of my family in the face again if I so much as touched another woman. I made a commitment to my wife, and now my children, to be fiercely loyal to them. I take that commitment very seriously. First of all, I love my family more than I can put into words, but more importantly, I don't understand the concept of adultery. That's a whole different blog post however. What's important here is what I will ask again. Can he be forgiven?
It's your choice.
I have watched the situation with Tiger Woods unfold very closely because I am a fan, as I have readily admitted. It hurts me to think that someone I respected treated his family so horribly. Especially since I value my family so much. My wife and kids are everything to me, and I would never hurt them, but he did. So, I have to make a choice. And after reading him in Newsweek, and listening to him in an ESPN Radio interview, I have decided to forgive him.  I have decided that I believe him when he says he is owning up to his mistakes and moving forward with his life. I believe he really feels that before he can be a better player, he has to be a better person. I believe him and I forgive him. The question I keep asking myself is though, would I be able to forgive my wife for doing to me what Tiger did to his wife? I know for a fact that I will NEVER have to answer that question. But, the question I ask you is, do you forgive Tiger? It's your choice.

I've got the missing paragraph added.

In case anyone read my blog post CHAMPIONSHIPS! and was wondering about the missing paragraph I referred to, I have fixed it. Thank you for the patience, and I hope you enjoy it.

I'm sorry. Something got left off.

I'd like to apologize. For some reason the last paragraph that was supposed to appear before the pictures got cut off for some reason. I'm really trying to find it because it tied my whole post together and made what I was saying make sense.
Anyone know how to find that. I've searched the history, and it's just not there.
If I can't find it tomorrow, I will edit it from memory and you'll like my post a lot more.

CHAMPIONSHIPS!

I love them!
Recently I was reading something about sports, which I do a lot, and came across something about a championship team. It really got me to thinking. I love winning at everything I do in life. Now, it's not the end-all-be-all that it used to be for me. But, it's still pretty cool. Winning leads to championships. As I am in the process of telling you, I LOVE championships!!! I just love the sound of the word even. Say it to yourself out loud right now. CHAMPIONSHIP! Doesn't that just feel good to say. I know you liked it.
Being the best at something.
We live in a very competitive society. Just about every aspect of our lives involves some sort of competition. School? Of course it's competitive. Maybe not to every kid at every stage, but there comes a time that the better a student you are, the better college you get into, the better career you land. So, students compete for the best grades. Work life? Well, if someone has any ambition at all, they want to be the best at what they do. They want to move up in the company they work for, to get the next promotion, to be the best. So yes, they compete with coworkers to be the best. Now, before I upset anyone out there, let me make sure I put this the right way. I advocate competition, not winning at all costs. There is a line there. Doing underhanded things like cheating, lying and stealing, in order to win, crosses that line. It is okay to not win(I don't even like typing the "l" word.) As long as you competed at your best, learned why you didn't win, and came out in the next competition ready to prove that this time, you are the best. It is my belief in this sense of competition that makes me really hate what is happening in our youth sports leagues.
I may upset a few people.
I HATE seeing parents and coaches taking the competitiveness out of our youth sports!!! Again, blood and guts, especially at the younger age levels, is not what I'm advocating. However, in life there is winning and losing as I've pointed out. If a kid is always told that "at least you were out there and had fun" he will never know the sting of losing. That sting motivates! Sure, a kid is going to feel bad for a while.  However, it will motivate a person to try harder. There is a youth softball league in my home town that is co-ed(not the problem I have,) just lets the defensive team play where they want, records no runs or outs, and nobody wins or loses. What does that teach our kids??? It's okay to just lope around and have fun? Well, when our young people are 21 and have gotten through college and are just sitting around their parents house all day with no job. Just tell them "It's okay, at least you're trying and having fun right?" That's where we are headed!
A little off track.
So now I'm ranting again. Sorry. Where was I? Oh Yeah! I love championships! I've had the pleasure of being on a few teams that have won championships in my life. One team holds the highest place in my heart though. It was a men's Rec league basketball team. We had 7 or 8 guys every game that showed up. One guy was the best player in the league, and he scored about 30-35 points a game. I would usually put up about 12-15, and the rest of the team would chip in whatever they were good for that game. We were a total team though. We knew who our scorer was, and we all played our role. I was the "coach" of the team and it was AWESOME! We played a game that basically decided the championship of the tournament at season's end, and only had six guys there. With about eight minutes to go in the game, I came out for a sub, so I could rest for the end. The five guys that were in the game were playing so well that I had no reason to go back in. It pained me to not be out there when the game ended, but as the buzzer sounded, I jumped up and just got this feeling that is hard to describe. I've only had this feeling a couple of times in life, but it's amazing. I got these chills up my entire body, but not like normal goose bumps, something different. Something that may be unique to me for all I know. Everyone might get a different feeling from winning something they hold special than I do. All I know is, up to that point in my life, winning championships was just about the greatest thing I could ever do. I still keep the trophies we won that year to this day. 
Then it all changed.
As you may know from reading my past blog posts, I am a very happily married man, with two amazing children. This has been the ultimate accomplishment of my life. There is no game, sport or championship I could win that would top having my family. Still there is one thing I wanted to do. I had a plan. I was going to get into the best shape I possibly could this winter. I wanted to do this for my health, and so I could be around longer for my kids. However, I wanted to do it for another reason as well. I wanted to be able to play softball this summer in really good shape. I wanted one more season like I used to be. I wanted to be able to get to that ground ball that's should be just out of my reach like I used to. I wanted to be able to stretch that single into an easy double like I used to. Now, that situation has been put on hold. As I have mentioned, I am in the process of being diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. I am almost 100% sure that what is going on is RA. It is going to really make working out a challenge until I can get this latest ailment under control. That's not to say I couldn't still get into shape so that I can play ball like I want. I can do it, it's just that my focus has changed the last few days. There is really no good reason to play ball now. I have to avoid injury so I can be around for my family. That is the real championship I'm after now. My idea of happiness has changed over the last 7-8 years. I used to define happiness as competing and winning. Now, happiness to me is, seeing my bride walk(run) down the aisle towards me. Hearing "I love you Daddy." Holding both of my kids as  I read to them. Imagining a future with this amazing family that I have. So, that is what makes me tick now. That is my championship that I am pursuing. I have included three pictures at the end of this post, the first two are of championships that teams I have a rooting passion for winning recent championships. The third picture is of the trophy I want to win more than anything else in life now.
Thank you for reading and letting me have a personal therapy session. Have a great day. 

   

Pain update!

Feeling a little better.
So, it's been about three days since the pain was at it's worst, and I'm starting to feel a little better. I've mentioned in a couple of other forums that I received a shot of anti-inflammatory medicine(which is not really good for me due to my bowel situation, but that's another story) as well as a prescription of prednisone. These seem to have calmed down the intensity of what I'm feeling. The doctor that I went to listened to me describe what I was feeling and came up with what he thought were two possibilities for what might be going on with me. He said it could be gout or rheumatoid arthritis. After checking out the two ailments online, I think it's RA. Now, I'm not a doctor, and I don't play one on TV, but I kind of know what I'm feeling. The symptoms described for gout do not fit at all what I'm feeling, while RA fits exactly what I'm feeling. Plus, RA is an auto- immune disease and I have already had problems with my auto- immune system. As I stated in a couple of past posts, I had a disease called Ulcerative Colitis as a young man. I have known for sometime now that a side effect of UC was arthritis later in life. Well, I'm later in life and here we go!
Trying to keep it a little short tonight.
I am still experiencing some symptoms that are just not fun in general, but I'm not dieing so, I'll just keep on banging away at these keys, because it's fun. The two areas that I've known I had arthritis in, my right shoulder and right hip, have been really sore the last few days. They are not what's really driving me crazy though. My fingers hurt like Hell, and my elbow and knees feel like they might explode from time to time. Not only that but my ankles feel like they are going to break off as I walk. The best part though, is that when I stand up, I sound like a breakfast cereal. I snap, crackle and pop like a man twice my age. I'm only 37 years old. Isn't this a little young to be going through this crap? 
One of my biggest fears.
For the longest time after I was first diagnosed with UC, doctors told me that they were not sure what caused auto-immune diseases. They were unsure if family history had anything to do with it. Well, I'm hearing now that it is being thought of as a major factor. My mother has Lupus. As you may know, Lupus is an auto-immune disease. I probably inherited it from her. If your reading Mom, it's okay. I'm about like 80-85% sure you didn't give it to me on purpose. Well, since I obviously am afflicted with a poor auto-immune system, and I got it from my Mom, who's to say I won't pass it on to one or both of my kids? That is a fear I have had even before Stacy and I had kids. I've known my entire life that I wanted kids, and I've also known that there was a chance of this. I've decided to take this stance on the matter. If either, or both, of my kids develop an auto-immune ailment, they will have a father that has been where they are. I can literally hold their hand(s) all the way through it. If I can help them, or anyone else, get through the problems they experience, then I've done something good and noble with my life. What else can I do? I'm really not sure. I know that I went through a long time in my life where I thought it was my fault that I got sick. I will NOT let anyone else, especially one of my kids, think that. I beat myself up for a long time, and it was not the right approach to take. I'd like to think that with age comes wisdom. Here's my chance to prove it.
Well, as always I've gone on with my rant longer than I really wanted to, and my fingers feel like they might fall off, so I'll say good night.
Have a great night.   

Pain!

SAHD in pain!
Hello to everyone out there in blog land! I would like to apologize for not posting a new blog the last two days. The fact is, I've been in some pretty bad pain. It started on Saturday morning and got progressively worse throughout the day. About 6pm on Saturday I was in so much pain, I could hardly move. The pain is throughout my entire body, to the point that I couldn't walk more than a couple of steps at a time. It has continued throughout the weekend and today. My fingers hurt so bad, that typing this is excruciating. I have pain from time to time due to arthritis that is caused by my earlier illness that I spoke about here. Ulcerative Colitis is an autoimmune disease and one of the problems it causes is arthritis later on in life. Well, I have it. What I'm feeling now is way worse in terms of pain than what I feel from my arthritis. We traveled to Toledo yesterday to have a party on my wife's side of the family to celebrate Sydney's birthday, and it took all I had to ride in the car there and back, and spend the day with the in laws. 
Any ideas?
I have made an appointment with my doctor for later today, but I was wondering if anyone out there has any idea about what I am experiencing. Not only do I hurt in every muscle, joint, tendon, ligament, and bone in my body, but I am sensitive to the touch. I asked my wife to rub my back(always a nice thing) on Saturday night, hoping it would make me feel better. However, after a couple of minutes I had to make her stop because her touching my back hurt like heck. I have held my hands out to her to see if she could see any differences in appearance, and when she rubbed her fingers across them to see if they felt any different, I pulled my hands back. Her touch caused me to jump in pain! 
Has anyone out there gone through anything like this, and if so, what caused it? I'm really bothered by what this is, and I want to figure it out so I can get on the road to fixing it right away.
Thanks, and have a great day. 

I am a huge Dork!

I've come to grips with it, and so should you!

I'll just come out and say it, I'm a dork. I've always kind of known this to be true, but it really kind of hit me earlier today. Let me tell you the story a little. I was picking up Sydney from school and bumped into a friend of mine from high school and a few years after. She asked how I was doing and I replied, "I'm still fat, and a dork." She laughed and said that I was full of it. "No, I really am. Good thing my wife likes dorks huh?" That's when it hit me, I really am a dork.  I'm not as big of a dork as the guy pictured above, but I am a dork nonetheless.
My dorkiness.
Let me just tell you about me and my dorky past. Let me draw you a mental picture first. Picture the late '80s when all of the Hair Bands were at their most popular. Everyone in my high school was growing out their mullets like the guys in the bands. Now picture a skinny, but very athletic, guy deciding that he was going to cut all of his hair off into a flattop. That same guy wore glasses. Big round glasses. So you have a skinny, almost bald kid who wore glasses. Maybe I was as big of a dork as Urkel! It wasn't just my appearance that made me a dork though. I am an absolute sports nerd even to this day. I can retain sports information like no one you know for some reason. I mean I could be on, and be very successful, any of the sports trivia game shows that you see on TV. Well that skinny guy would spout off that info at times that most high school kids could really care less about. Not only that, but I have had a love affair with Star Wars from the moment I first seen it on the big screen. It gets better(or maybe worse, I'm not sure.) I had a basketball rim set up on my grandparents garage. Their house was just 200 yards from my house so I would walk down there EVERY day. I would shoot baskets on that rim until my fingers bled. My family would worry about me during the summer that I was going to pass out from heat stroke. I didn't care, I loved being out there. Well, I would see my friends, or other people from school, drive by and honk at me on the way to a party of some sort. Well, on their way home later that night, guess who they would see out at the rim still shooting away? Yep, me. I had a vapor light over the rim so I could shoot all night if I wanted. Now, with all of that practice, you would think I would have been some kind of basketball prodigy or something. Not so much though. I'm still only 5'9", white and can't jump out of the gym. Sure I could shoot the rock, but I could never get myself open enough to get my shot off. The point is, while the cool kids were having fun and doing the whole high school stuff, I was by myself playing basketball. 
It gets worse though. As an 18 year old I was away at college to play football. It was a small Division III school, so settle down, I wasn't some big star or anything. I got really sick with a disease known as Ulcerative Colitis. It almost killed me. So imagine a guy who was already socially shy to say the least, now having a condition that made him run to the rest room all of the time. I lost any self-confidence that I may have had. My self-esteem was lower than I can describe. I withdrew a lot more. Becoming, in my mind, an even bigger dork! I made sports an even bigger emphasis in my life. I was the guy playing slow-pitch softball like it was the World Series. I've always been very competitive, but it got out of hand. My teams were always pretty good, but I made it life and death. I had a problem.
My health improved, but not my dorkiness!
I had surgery to correct my illness, and things even got better for me. But, I was still a dork. I was still the guy who loved sports a little too much. I still loved Star Wars. And, I was still socially inept. I struggled through life unhappy in my dorkdom. I wasn't happy with who I was. I wanted to be cool. So, I made myself be cool. I realized that the illness I had had, was not my fault. I realized that being me, was cool. I made huge strides, but at the end of the day, I was still a dork. Sure part of my opinion of dorkiness was about the ladies. I wasn't the type of guy who could just talk to a woman and impress her. I wasn't smooth at all. I started to learn how to talk to the fairer sex and that made me feel a little better about me. It wasn't enough though, I was still a dork. 
Stacy saved me from my dorkiness!
Then, I met the one person who loves me for my dorkiness. I met my wife on Match.com, as I've mentioned here. I was able to develop a relationship with her over the internet without her seeing my dorkiness in person. The dork came out full tilt, but over the internet and on the phone, it wasn't so bad. Or, so I thought. I remember making the comment on the phone to her one time before we had met in person, that I was such a dork. I'll never forget what she said. "Yeah, but I really like that about you." Holy crap!!! Being a dork was finally paying off.  Now after being together for over seven years, and married for over six, we still talk about how big of a dork I am. There will be times when we hear a song I really like, and I'll dance like a crazy person. And, I have to mention that I am the whitest of white men and have ZERO rhythm. Needless to say, when I dance, I look like I'm having some sort of fit or convulsion. I really hope you get the reason for that link. Well anyway, while I'm "dancing" Stacy will just look at me, roll her eyes, and say "You're such a dork."
That's the point!
I've finally accepted in my own mind, that yes, I'm a dork. And that's a good thing. My wife loves me, not in spite of, but because I'm a dork. My kids are going to be so embarrassed by their Dear Old Dad some day. But, that's why I'm here. I'm a huge dork, and I'm okay with it. And you should be too!
With that, I'll stop. Have a great weekend.
Football picks.
Lions over Bills
UM over Purdue
Bye over MSU.
I had to throw that last one in their for you Danielle!!!  
 

Lack of Discipline!

The lack of discipline in alarming!
I've gone on and on here in my blog about how lucky I am to have the family that I do, and that is certainly true now more than ever. I love my wife and kids more than I could ever put into words here in this blog. However, and let's face it, however is just another more fancy way of saying but, over the last week to ten days, my kids have lost their minds! This of course has caused my wife and I to lose our minds as well. In addition, Stacy and I have lost all patience or ability to reason. My kids have gone crazy!!!
I've probably talked about how sometimes it seems that I speak a foreign language, or at least my kids hear me speaking a different tongue. Lately however, it's gotten really bad. There has been a lot of yelling in our house over the last few days. Sure, we took a yelling moratorium on Sydney's birthday, but most days lately are quite hard to take. I know that both of my kids are very intelligent. Shoot, as I mentioned here, Denny is from outer space. Last I checked, it takes a few brain cells to build and operate an intergalactic space ship. Well it's because of this intelligence from my kids that I sometimes feel as though I'm on some version of the old show "Candid Camera." I mean, I have to get after them both for the same things every single day!
An example scenario.
Let me just give you a rundown of what I mean. Today while I was in the living room picking up, Denny was in the kitchen and it was awfully quiet in there. As any parent will attest, that's not a good sign. I go in there, and before I do, I know exactly what is going on. He has opened the stove and is standing on the door so he can reach the cookies that are set to the back of the counter. So, I take him off the stove door, give a two year old the appropriate lecture on how he could hurt himself, he ignored me, and went straight for the living room. So, while I'm cleaning up the mess he made on the counter, I hear a familiar noise from the living room. That noise was Sydney yelling "Come look what Denny did to the TV!" Again, I know what it is he has done, because he did the same thing yesterday. And the day before that. And the day before that. And, every single days since time began! He has climbed up on the end table and turned off the cable box, opened the now broken DVD player, and has attempted to shove some toy into said DVD player. So, I'm starting the slow burn at this point. I take him down for the dangerously high spot he has found, put him in the chair and again give him the appropriate lecture for a two year old. Again, he ignores me. At this point, I get them up to the table to do some coloring. The same situation plays itself out from the day before. Denny breaks and throws the crayons. Sydney yells at him, walks over to him and tries to wrestle the half-crayon from his hand, resulting in a fist fight that ends with her hair being pulled and him screaming because she has delivered a rather impressive roundhouse right to the side of his skull. So, they get separated and put into the ever effective "Time Out." This is just a small sample of what happens here lately. I didn't even tell you about how the other night I had stopped and gotten them some Chicken McNuggets and the abuse I took for not giving them to him right away. I put them on the counter to cool and told Denny to leave them there. Of course, when I wasn't looking, he tried to take them. I took them from his grubby little hands and told him that I meant it when I said no. I started to wash my hands at the sink when I felt a large object ramming my hip. He had headbutted my hip! When I turned to face my attacker, he lined me up for his attempt at setting the NFL record for longest field goal in the history of the game of football! I managed to avoid the kick, but by this time, my own anger was red lined. He got his little behind swatted and put on the couch for a good ten minutes while the nuggets and I cooled off.
It's my own fault.
I have never been a very disciplined person in my life. I don't mean that I acted up as a child or anything. It's just that I have never instilled in myself the discipline needed to accomplish anything that I wanted to. I have always wanted to teach and coach at the high school level, and I have just never finished my degree despite multiple opportunities. I don't always discipline myself when it comes to the upkeep of our house. Sometimes things don't always get done how they should. So, my point is, how can my kids learn discipline from me if I don't have any myself?  How can I expect them to do what I say, when I don't even do what I say I am going to?
I just don't know what to do. I'm trying really hard to get them to mind us, but it's not taking at all.  I don't know if they are bored or what. I don't know how they can be bored though, I try and do different things with them all of the time. I am really trying to switch up our everyday routine so that boredom is not an issue. Maybe they are BOTH aliens and have been sent here to test the limits of human patience. Yeah, I think that's it. I am being studied by aliens. It's the most logical explanation.
Okay, I'm done now. Have a great night. See, most people will read that and know that I meant to "have a nice night." To my kids that means "try to run your father into an insane asylum before he's 40!

The 5th Birthday!

Yesterday was the big day!
I think that I've mentioned a few(dozen) times that yesterday was my daughter's fifth birthday. I just want to say that it was an amazing day. We started out by eating the exact breakfast she wanted. Pancakes from McDonald's with strawberries and whipped cream. Mommy made it look really cool by making smiley faces with the fruit and cream. Sydney usually isn't a big breakfast girl, but she hoovered her breakfast then. We then spent the day up until it was time to go to school doing exactly what she wanted to do. When she said she wanted to do something, we did it. Now that I think about it, that's not any different than any other day around here. So, her Royal Highness, Princess Sydney allowed us to go to the store and pick up her cake and the cupcakes she was taking to her class. At school they went on a short field trip to the fire station in town, and because it was her birthday, she got to sit in the truck! She was very excited about that. After school it was off to my parents for her party. We had one of her favorite meals for dinner, hot dogs and chips and dip. My wife makes this killer dip(which she got the recipe from my mom, who got it from her mom) that is actually very simple. Cream cheese and milk blended together. Not the most healthy of dishes, but it is so good. My kids eat the heck out it. Shoot, Denny eats it straight without chips. I may have to watch for childhood obesity with that one! 
Then it was on to the gifts for Princess Sydney, and that really made me feel amazing. She got quite a few good gifts that had her really excited, but when she opened her gift from Mommy and Daddy, it was like her head was going to explode! To be fair, we are with her all the time and know exactly what she wanted, and she does always get what she wants, so...
I'm such a pushover.
My grandfather always gives the kids on their birthdays whatever cash he may have in his pocket at the time and he came through again with Sydney. Usually its like $5-$10, and she got $8. She wanted to spend it right away, so we went to Wal-Mart before going home. We decided that she would get this one gift she has been asking for that we hadn't gotten her already. It's one of those Pillow Pets. It's a pillow that folds up and looks like a stuffed animal. She wanted the unicorn one, and of course she picked it up right away. We felt that it wouldn't be fair if she got an extra gift and Denny didn't get anything, so he got one too, only a dog. Each one was $20, and with Sydney contributing her eight, we are now on the hook for $32! As we walked around the store she noticed a Barbie doll she has been wanting and that became the object of her obsession immediately. It was also $20. We told her she could only get one thing, and since there was only two unicorns left she should stay with the pillow pet. This led to lots of tears and just utter sadness from her. I tried to reason with her, but she really wanted that Barbie, and the unicorn. I'll bet anyone can guess what happened from here right? Yep, she got both. I can't help it, she's my little girl and if it's at all within my power, she will get anything she wants. I know that I spoil her, but she's mine and I'll deal with the spoiledness when it come up. She is really good about taking no for an answer when the times come up that I have to tell her no due to lack of funds. She seems to kind of get that. I know I talked about her not getting the concept of money in this post but, I think she realizes that when I say we don't have the money for something, it means we can't get it. At that point anyway. She also knows that when we do have the money, she will get her Daddy to buy her anything she wants. There is going to come a time when she wants a car, and I'm screwed. Someone please tell me how to stop being such a pushover with my kids, and my wife for that matter as well. 
Anyways, I've included some pictures of the big day here. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed living them! Have a great night!

                                            Right after she woke up. She's not a morning person!

                                                           Her haul of gifts!

                                                            Breakfast with Denny.

                                                My Grandfather, Denny, Sydney and my niece Ava.

                                                       Isn't she beautiful?

                                                             They do get along sometimes.

                                   And of course, the cake with horses!

I'm a little off of my game!

  My blog topic for today.
When I sat down at the computer tonight to type up my blog post, I had this topic that I had been running through my head all day long. I had worked out just about everything I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it. I even started typing it up. Then I realized that I'm kind of an idiot sometimes. The whole topic I had in mind was just not something that was really that interesting. I was kind of bored with my thoughts, so how in the heck can I expect anyone else to want to read it?
Sydney gets to dominate this post.
I'm going to just let my daughter and her artistic ability do the talking for me tonight on the eve of her fifth birthday.

These are some of her latest art projects from both home and at school. I think she's starting to do really well with this sort of stuff. She is starting to stay in the lines when she colors, and since I still can't do that, I'm fairly impressed.
Her birthday.
Like I mentioned, tomorrow is her fifth birthday. I just can't believe that it's been five years already. It's amazing how fast time really does fly. It has gone even faster since she was born and then when her brother came along as well. I'm really trying to appreciate the time that we are in right now. The kids will only be this age once, so I want to enjoy it. There is going to come a time when they are too cool for their dorky day. That might be the case now, but that's okay. 
I'll have some pictures tomorrow night of her birthday party at my parents, so look forward to that. And, I'll have my game back to give you some funny, interesting, insightful material to read. Until then however, have a great night!     

I think my son is an alien!

He must be from outer space.
I swear my son, who is again only two, is not from this planet. I have often thought that he was a little crazy, or a bit of a little dufus. I have however decided that I was wrong. He has to be from somewhere other than the planet Earth. There are things that he does that just make me shake my head. I love that little boy more than I can put into words here.  However, I sometimes have to wonder if my DNA could produce a child that behaves the way he does.

Walking with him.
I have noticed that when I walk with him anywhere, it's like when Elliot and his brother took ET Trick-or-Treating with them. They had poor ET under that sheet like he was a ghost, and the little guy was walking all over the place. Elliot had to lead him from place to place. It's like that with Denny. I have to hold his hand obviously, but while I do, his attention wanders. It's like he sees something shiny and is drawn to it. It might be a stick on the ground, or a piece of paper on the floor of the supermarket, or a cat down the sidewalk from our house. The point is, he doesn't ever just walk with me from Point A to Point B. I don't remember his sister being like this when she was his age. He must be from Planet Dufus or something.
  He's indestructible.
 Over the course of this weekend he has fallen about 273 times and only has a small scratch under his right arm that is even halfway serious. Sure, his legs each have about nine bruises each, but for what has taken place this weekend, he's doing pretty good. With the amount and severity of some of his falls, you would think he's be in traction or dead or something. If it were me that had taken a couple of, or even one of, his falls, it would take an ambulance to come get me before I moved again. 
Let me run down a couple of his falls for you. First, and most serious, is the one at Toys 'R' Us on Saturday night. This is the fall that I could see happening but couldn't do anything to stop. It is also the one that made me sure that I was going to be spending time in the ER very soon. We had gone to TRU(the shortened version of the store name, because that's a lot of typing. Probably not as much as the explanation, but you get my point,) to look at toys so we could have ideas for Sydney's birthday and the upcoming Christmas holiday. We were just looking and not buying, the kids had had that made very clear to them. That didn't stop them from reacting as if they had walked into the magical land of Oz. There was a lot of squealing, and "Can I have this Daddy?" going on. However, for the most part, they were both very good. I don't do well in stores after being there for a while. I think I get it from my Dad(sorry Mom, and Stacy, I seem to be a lot like the man.) I was starting to get impatient, we had been there for almost an hour. Well, to get to the point, Denny leaned a little too far out of the cart while reaching for a toy on the shelf and went head over heals out of the cart. He literally did a flip and landed with the front of his head hitting the cement floor. We scooped him right up, and I think he was more scared than anything, because he doesn't even have a bump on his head. I'm telling you; alien.
Then he was standing in his chair at dinner(despite several "requests" that he sit down) and just fell straight down the front of the chair and under the table. He cried a little, but was fine. For good measure, he did the same thing at tonight's dinner. He also stood on a small scooter we have in our basement and fell off from that. That is of course, on top of the number of falls he takes as a "normal" two year old. I'm telling you the kid could be just walking along in the house and fall for no reason! I think he has trouble with our gravity here on earth! There is no way someone could take the falls he takes and not be hurt without having some sort of special protectant. Like an alien skeleton. Maybe he draws his ability to withstand injury from our sun like Superman got his strength. Maybe the air here on earth gives him super solid bones, I don't know. I just know that he can not keep falling like he does without getting hurt!!! It's going to lead to his father being proven to be very human! The gray hairs he has given me will be nothing compared to the cardiac event I'm sure to have the next time he stands on the end table and lets himself fall backwards like he's doing the "Nestea Plunge" onto the couch! I'm telling you, he's from somewhere else.

So this picture above shows him at one of his rare calm moments. Seriously though, how can someone be this cute and be from Earth? 
Really, I hope that someday he reads this and realizes just how much his Daddy loves him. Actually, I hope that I do a good enough job of making sure he knows how much I love him that reading this just reinforces it for him.
As always have a great night and see you tomorrow.
One last thing.
I did have my heart ripped from my chest this afternoon, and it hurt really bad. My Detroit Lions played an excellent game for about 58 minutes, then blew up and became the same old Lions for the last two minutes. The coaches made a couple of really bad decisions that basically was the turning point of the game. So instead of being on a winning streak for the first time in what feels like eons, they lost again. They had a chance to beat one of the better teams in the NFL, but instead ended up making me scream and throw things again. Why do I put myself through this every season? Oh well, Duke basketball starts in one week! I can't wait!

Daylight Savings

Really, why?
So tonight in my part of the country, we observe the end of daylight savings time. We turn our clocks back an hour at 2am. I guess I just don't understand why we do this. I know the explanation that it gives the farmers more daylight in the summer to do their work. That's all nice and good, but did anyone think about how it's going to affect me? I didn't think so. Does anyone realize what the time change is going to do to my kids? We are getting an extra hour of sleep tonight. Yeah right! My kids will still sleep the same amount of time as usual. Their little body clocks are not programmed with a snooze button just yet. When they wake up, it doesn't matter what time it is, they get up out of bed. And since it's not really good parenting to just let a 4 year old and a 2 year old run around your house unattended by adults, I have to turn off my own body clock and get up. It's one of the many joys of parenting you're not told about when you fantasize about becoming a parent.
An insane time of day!
So, what all of this means is that in the morning when my kids reach their sufficient amount of sleep, they will get up at an insane time of day. I'm sure they will be up about 5am or something stupid like that on a Sunday morning. Of course that's not the real problem though. Where it becomes a problem is tomorrow night. They are going to be tired at the time of day that is their usual bed time, which is usually around 8pm. Of course that will now be 7pm, and I'm not letting my kids go to bed that early. So, there will be plenty of whining, and fighting and bickering and moaning about that time. And, that's just from my wife and I. The kids will probably be cranky as well! HaHa, I made a funny joke!
So, if you don't see a post from me tomorrow, don't be surprised. I'll probably be sitting in front of the TV with the NFL Sunday night game on. Of course, I'll be asleep snoring so loud the neighbors call the cops, but that's okay too.
Have a good night, and don't forget to turn your clocks back one hour before bed tonight. IF you live in the area of the country that does that. If you don't live in this part of the country, please don't turn your clock back an hour, and then blame me when you're late for everything tomorrow or Monday. It's not my fault!

Learning the meaning of money.

A chance to teach something important.
I've probably mentioned that my daughter has a birthday coming up real soon. It's this coming Tuesday in fact. She turns five, and I can't believe it's been five years since I became a father. It seems like time has actually flown faster than I can ever remember it doing. I am still surprised that with as big of a nervous wreck that I was, the hospital actually let me take her home! I guess it's because my wife was with me, and her mothering instincts are second to no one's. Anyhow, where I was going with this is that she has started receiving some birthday cards in the mail. There was one from my wife's Aunt and Uncle that included a ten dollar check for the little girl to buy herself a present with. It was made out to my wife because they don't usually let young children cash checks, but it was for Sydney nonetheless. This gave me the thought that I could start teaching her the lesson of the value of money. Now, seeing how I have never really had money, or been good with the money that I have had, maybe I'm not the right person to be teaching her this lesson. But, I am her father so I guess I should give it a try.

She thinks you "buy" money!
Well, my wife cashed the check and promptly gave Sydney two crisp five dollar bills. She said "I have two dollars!" We had to tell her that the fives on the bills meant that they were worth five dollars. She has learned enough about math that she knew that added up to ten dollars. We had told her that she could go to the store and buy herself whatever she wanted and that if it went a little over her $10, Mom and Dad would pay for the rest. She said she wanted to buy "Toy Story 3." That was fine, it's only about $15, so we were fine with paying the rest. I knew the little boy would watch it as well, and my wife and I both enjoy all of the "Toy Story" films, so it was a good purchase.
While we were on the way to the store, I had her hold her money and told her not to take it out of her pocket until we paid for her movie. She told me she didn't want to give up her "dollars" and wanted to keep them forever. I guess that's good, but it's not the lesson I was going for. I wanted her to learn that we can purchase items in exchange for the money. I think it confuses her that more often than not, we use our debit cards to purchase things. So, she thinks you just swipe a card and you get stuff. Anyway, after agreeing to part with her "dollars" in order to get her movie, she asked me if I could "buy her some more money for her birthday?" I don't think my lesson is sinking in quite yet.
My daughter hates it whenever I have left the house to go to work. To the point that when she was just two years old and I worked for Coke, she tried to get me to take my work shirt off and stay home with her one day when I had stopped home for lunch. Well, I have explained to her that you have to work in order to get money to buy her toys. It was the only way I could think of to explain it to her young mind as to why Mommy and Daddy had to go to work and not always stay home with her. Now that I was, until recently, an employee of Wal-Mart, and my wife works in the vision center at Wal-Mart, and we do 90% or our shopping at Wal-Mart, she thinks we go there to "buy" our money as well as everything else. She thinks the only reason we go to the local Meijer's store is to ride the 1 cent mechanical horse! Both of my kids love that thing, and it's been around since I was a kid! So, I think she thinks that Wal-Mart is where all of the money and good are! I guess she's right in some degree, but I think she might be too young to understand completely the lesson I was going for. Or, the possibility exists that I don't know how to teach it!
Does anybody have any good ideas on how to get this lesson across to a five year old? If so, I would love to hear any suggestions. I would love to be able to teach my kids to better value money than their father has. Because I can go through money like nobodys business. I have never learned how to save it with any consistency, and it would be nice to learn that myself.
Thanks again, and have a great weekend.
Weekend football predictions.
I would like to put out a major prediction for this weekend's games. I am picking my Detroit Lions to shock everybody and beat the New York Jets by a score of 27-17. Take it to the bank, with a least 10% certainty.
Also, I am picking both UM and MSU to win big on Saturday.  

Letting myself go!

My SAHD uniform.

So as you can see from the picture I've included, I'm not in what you would call the best of shape. I've never been "ripped" but there was a time before when I looked a lot better than what I do now. In my defense though, I was a lot younger then. I have definitely let myself go! And the worst part about it is, the picture above shows what has amounted to my SAHD uniform. I wear just about the same thing every day. Not the same shirt, but a lot of times I wear a rotation of about two or three pairs of shorts. I do wear two different pair of running pants when I leave the house(which is mostly to take my daughter to, or pick her up from school. I make myself presentable, but let's just say, I've looked better. I shower regularly, so I don't stink or anything like that. It's just that I think that subconsciously I've decided that since I stay at home most of the time, what's the point?
How about being around for my kids?
It has occurred to me that perhaps I should start to take better care of myself for the simple reason that I want to be around for my kids. The path I'm currently on is leading to an early grave. I don't know about you, but I'd like very much to not have that happen. Now, I've stated all of this before in previous posts, but I think I've hit rock bottom! I feel horrible. I have to drag myself out of bed each morning because I'm still tired. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I don't sleep well, probably because I don't do anything during the day to physically tire myself out. I walk with the kids most days, and I play at the park with them, but that's not much of a workout at all. My eating habits are in a word; abysmal. Unless you consider Keebler Peanut Butter Cup cookies a health food. I love those things. Also, I don't think Pepsi at a rate of a two liter every 24 hours is considered "healthy." I love my kids and I want to be able to play with them without having to rest every couple of minutes because I'm so out of breath. I want my wife to look at me and not see this guy.

I also mentioned in my last post the singer/songwriter Michael Jackson, and well he had a song that is fitting for what I feel right now.
 Time for a change!
I know that Michael Jackson's song wasn't about physical fitness, but rather changing the world one person at a time. However, I am going to take the name of the song to heart and make some changes in the way I live my life. I would like to be a SAHD for a lot longer. I don't want to keel over due to heart failure because my arteries are so clogged no blood can pump through my body. That is why I am making it known here on my blog that it's time to start making that change. I would like each and every person who reads this to be my personal trainers. Keep on my sorry behind to do something each and every day in terms of a workout. Make sure I'm staying on the diet I have planned for myself. And for goodness sakes if you know me personally and you see me in the store and I have Peanut Butter Cup cookies in my cart; beat me to a fat bloody pulp!
Thanks, and I hope you enjoyed my rant once again. 
Have a great day.