That time of year.

We all reflect.
Well, here we are again. New Year's Eve. It comes along every year, and every year I think we all have the tendency to look back on the soon to be completed year. I think it's only human nature. The calendar just happens to be a convenient time to look back on our good and bad times. We probably all vow to make the next year better than the last. With that said, I'd like to present to you something a little unique(at least in my mind.)
Dear Me of one year from now,
I want to write this to you to let you know that things are pretty good right now. I'm sure you will look back on the coming year and wish you had done some things differently, but that's okay. You do it every year, but you know that because you're me right? I just want to put this out there so that when this time next year rolls around, you will know EXACTLY what you were thinking.
I really hope that you enjoyed becoming an uncle again as Krista is about to pop at any moment. She's having a boy, and while I haven't been able to get as excited about it as I'd like, it's a really cool thing. She seems a bit overwhelmed at the moment, but I'm sure that will pass for her. I hope you do everything in your power to help her through this. You know what it's like to have a second child and the challenges that brings. If nothing else, just be there for a phone call if she needs. Be a good uncle and a better brother.
I really hope that you take the time to learn to be more patient with Sydney and Denny. You have been doing SO much better at that, just continue to improve. Being a great parent is the most important job you have ever, or will ever, had. Try and improve EVERY day. I hope that when you look back on the year, that is just about the biggest accomplishment that you have.
Continue to treat Stacy like the Queen that she is. She has been the most amazing wife and mother in the world. I hope that you can look back on the year and know that you've taken care of her the way she deserves. 
I truly hope that you can say that the family issue that is going on right now is in your past. I really hope that you and K have resolved all the issues between the two of  you, and the family can be as close as it once was. There is nothing more important than family, and the strain that the tension has caused is just not necessary. 
I hope that you have put your heart and soul into this blog, as well as the second blog about sports that you want to start. Give blogging your best effort, it's fun and therapeutic at the same time.
I hope that you have gone out of your way to find a way to get back into college so that at some point in the next few years you can realize your one real professional dream. To teach and coach at the high school level.
I hope that you found a way to take care of this health issue that is hounding you right now. I hope that you have it diagnosed properly and gotten the proper care so that you can find a way to get active again. Sitting in an easy chair is not getting it done. Please tell me you've gotten off your ass and done something active!
 Please tell me that you have worked hard with Stacy to find a way to move towards home ownership. It's a dream that we both have and it's going to be a challenge. Just tell me that you've worked hard at it because it means A LOT to her. Make her happy.
And last, but not least, tell me that you have continued to be happy the whole year. Be happy for your wife and kids. Be happy for your extended family. Be happy for yourself, and you will make everyone around you a little happier.
With that, I say Happy New Year. Go out and make it a great one.
Thank you.
Now to you my reader, I hope that you have a great New Year and that you make this year all that you hope it to be. I would also like to thank you for reading my rants the last few months and I hope that we can continue this writer/reader relationship long into the future.
Happy New Year!!!  

Our Christmas Tree!

How long does it stay up?
I've been thinking about this for a few days, and I've wondered what the protocol is. My wife is in charge of the Christmas tree in our house, and her attitude towards it changes based on when it is in the month of December. Usually, when we get home from Thanksgiving dinner she is ready to put that baby up. She gets all excited and wants to decorate the crap out of our house. I really have no problem with that, except there is just something inside me that thinks Christmas trees shouldn't be up until at least December 1st. Of course now we have kids, and their happiness is what matters most. Oh, and my wife's also!
Like I said though, Stacy is in charge of putting the tree up anyway so what do I care? I help as much as I'm allowed to, but really that's not much other than putting my favorite ornaments on the tree. I get to lift the kids(as much as I physically can anymore at least) up to put stuff towards the top. I get to give my opinion on where the tree should be each year. And then I get told how my opinion of where the tree goes is the wrong opinion. So, I just let her do her thing and stay out of her way. Usually no later than December 1st the tree goes up and always looks amazing.
Then...
So, as we all know, Christmas eventually rolls around. The tree has been up for a while and this year we have had to get after the boy to LEAVE THE DAMN ORNAMENTS ON THE TREE!!! I can't wait until next year when he's a year taller and can get to everything on the tree! Should be fun. Anyway, Christmas comes and goes just like it does every year, and usually about 9pm on Christmas night Stacy is "over" the tree being up. Again, it doesn't really matter much to me because Stacy does most(all) of the work taking it down. I think that trees should come down soon after Christmas if my opinion matters. Unfortunately it doesn't. At least Stacy and I agree that you don't need to be those people that leave their Christmas trees up until February! Here we are less than two days until New Years, and as I drive along I see houses with trees still up and glowing in the windows. Now, I'm not a peeping tom looking into people's windows, I just notice things. I really think that trees should be down by now don't you? Christmas is over, let it go. I understand people who really love Christmas, because I am one of them, but come on. Take your tree down and enjoy the New Year!
What are your thoughts on this subject? Personally, we took ours down so our son would STOP MESSING WITH THE DAMN ORNAMENTS! What are your reasons for taking your tree down when you do? Do you still have yours up? Let me know if I'm the crazy guy.
Hope you have had a great Holiday season, and that you have your tree down! 

The case of the missing Rudolph ornament!

Things seem to disappear in our house!
Today was a fun day! Stacy was off of work, and Sydney is now on Christmas break. So, we got to spend the entire day together as a family. We had a lot of fun, and actually everyone got to get a little rest. That extra rest should come in handy with Christmas coming up soon. I'm sure naps won't be tops on the priority list for the kids. So, all in all, a really good day. Except, something came up missing. I suspect that our house is a lot like many homes that contain children, and that often things disappear. Socks, shoes, hat, mittens, remote controls, cell phones, my keys, Denny, all things that come up missing in our house. And today was no different.

  The picture above is presented as evidence in the Case of the missing Rudolph ornament!
The timeline.
At approximately 10:30am this morning, Stacy noticed that our Rudolph ornament was not on the tree for some reason. The search commenced from there. We asked Denny if he had taken the ornament from the tree, and of course he denied it. Then later changed his story to "YES!" when he was asked a second time. I think he just likes saying "yes" though. So, he was asked where he put it, but he was not breaking. He refused to tell us what he had done with it. Or, he was just not capable of telling us, it doesn't really matter because we were getting nowhere in our search. So, I decided that maybe Denny wasn't our ONLY suspect in the case. I compiled a photo list of our two most likely suspects. They are:

   This crazy guy. Denny! You can just tell by looking at him that he is always up to something. Plus, he's trying to hide in a box!
                                          And,

This hyper little dog! He's always chewing on things he's not supposed to. I suspect that they may have worked in tandem, or separately on the same crime. I believe that it is possible for Denny to have removed said ornament and then in his two year old haste, dropped it. At that point it is possible that Rocket picked it up and chewed it "all to Hell." That is just my first theory and the one I'm working off of.

The break we needed!
I was having a hard time during our search for a couple of reasons. First, my morning stiffness from whatever it is that I have going on(RA or something else that hurts a lot,) had not worn off yet. Secondly, because Sydney would not stop whining and crying about Rudolph being her favorite ornament ever. And, "I love that Rudolph, how could Denny do this to my life?" I was getting more frustrated with this case by the minute. I kicked some thoughts around in my head to no avail. I had folded a load of clothes during the day yesterday and had left them in the basket in our living room so I thought maybe Denny had put Rudolph in there. Then I remembered that I had folded the clothes after the kids had went to bed. So, I was taking a break. I needed to put my contacts in any way. Once up stairs I thought I'd give a quick look just to be on the safe side. Under the beds? Nope. In the bathroom? Nope. Under the dressers? Nope. Where could Rudolph be? If only he would flash his red nose and lead me to him. Then it hit me like a bolt of lightning. I had folded a different set of clothes earlier in the day and that basket also sat in the living room for a while yesterday. (Yes, I often will do all of our laundry and leave it in baskets rather than actually putting it away like I should. Stop judging me!) I took a peek into that basket that was sitting on the hope chest in our room, and there it was. Rudolph had been found! Along with two other ornaments that we didn't even know were missing. But, the other ornaments were not the point. I was going to be a hero to Sydney!!! I took Rudolph down and gave him to her and you should have seen the smile. It was like I had found the actual Rudolph for her. About ten minutes later she came up to me out of nowhere and gave me a huge hug and said "Thank you for finding my Rudolph Daddy." That's one heck of a way to get Christmas rolling if you ask me.
I'm a regular Encyclopedia Brown or something!
I should have been a detective or a Hardy Boy or something because the way I thought this case through, I've got skills. Now if I could just find the wallet I lost this past summer!  

What were they thinking?

I'm going to start studying genealogy!
I've decided that I want to know more about where I come from. I think it's important that we all know where we come from. If you don't know where you've been, you'll never get where you're going. Isn't that some sort of famous phrase of some kind? Well, my point is that I would really like to know more about my ancestors, and those of my wife. I'd like to know the names of the people that I am descended from. I'd like to know what they did to survive, how they made a living, what they did for recreation. I know that genealogy is the study of this sort of thing, so I'm looking into taking a class or two on the subject. Just enough to learn what to do, and where to go in order to do this type of research. I really feel like I need to know this stuff to understand something I'm dieing to know.
Once I know who they were!
So, once I take the aforementioned classes, and learn about genealogy, and find out who my ancestors were, what do I use that information for? I mean really how is knowing this information going to do me any good? Well, I'll tell you, I have this plan. I'm going to get together with some really smart physicist type of people and make them my really good friends. I'm going to get them drunk one night and convince them that we CAN build a time machine. I'm going to get these really smart guys to really believe that time travel is possible. If you read my blog, you will remember that I did a post about time travel before. If not you can read it here.  I don't really know if time travel is possible, but I know that there are people a lot smarter than me out there that with the right encouragement can be made to believe that they can make it possible.  Well, after they build me my time machine, I'm going to travel back in time and meet all the people that are my ancestors. I mean WAY back. All the way back to when North America was settled. I want to meet the people that I'm related to when they first settled here in this part of the country.
Why meet them?
Well, I'd like to meet these people and ask them a question. I'd like to look them in the eye and ask them if they are as freaking stupid as I think they are! Think about it for a second. If you lived back in that time and had really no insulation, no furnace, not much in terms of warm clothes, and your floor was probably the ground. Why in the Blue Hell do you settle in this part of the country??? It's damn cold out here in Michigan, and there is no reason to live here when you don't have to. If I was alive back in the 1700's and I came to America, I'd ask to be dropped down by Florida. Yeah, there are other weather issues down there, but you wouldn't have to live four months of the year trying to just stay warm as my number one priority of the day. So, now after I time travel back there and meet my ancestors, I'm going to punch them square in the face!!! There's about 8 inches of snow on the ground here, and it's so cold you can smell it when you walk outside. I know Minnesota has it worse, but I still hate this crap. When you have problems with arthritis, the cold sucks! So, to my ancestors I say thanks so much! You idiots!

My son won't take a nap!

He watched me from my bedroom window!!!
So yesterday my wife was off from work, which was nice. It gave us a little time to hang out together and get some things done. We have been wanting to get in the basement and reorganize some stuff, and we finally were making the time to do it. The whole family took Sydney to school and afterward Stacy, Denny and I returned home. We took Denny upstairs and put him down for his nap, and we went down to the basement. We have a monitor that we can hear what is going on in their room with, and we took it to the basement with us. We thought he was going to be really tired as he had gotten up EARLY in the morning. I'm talking before the rooster early! He has a tendency to do that from time to time. So, we thought we were going to have the time to just get down there and get the work we needed to do done. That was really dumb of us. From the monitor we could hear him messing around up in his bedroom. He has recently taken to getting out of his bed and playing in the closets. He has been told repeatedly to not do that, but like that really matters right? Well, we hollered up to him to get in bed, and he listened. Sort of. He would go running into his bed, but a few minutes later we would hear him get up, and start causing some other form of chaos. Well, we just let him do his thing, thinking he would eventually tire himself out to the point that he'd fall down from exhaustion. Nope! It got time for me to leave to get Sydney and as I walked out to the van, I took a bag of garbage to the dumpster. I could hear him banging on Stacy and my bedroom window yelling "DaDa, DaDa, Bye!" He watched me the entire time! What a little shit!
I had to report him!
Well, I just can't let that slide. I got on my phone and called Stacy to let her know what he was up to. By the time she answered, he was downstairs and had the door opened and was waving to me through the storm door. This is about an hour and a half after he had been originally put down for his "nap." We think that he's so used to it just being me and him at home during the day that when he saw me leave, he panicked. Thinking I was leaving him there all alone! I've often thought about doing that. Of course I am joking, kind of. 
Well, this just illustrates a problem we have been having with him lately. He won't stay in his bed for his nap. I will put him up there and tell him "Now don't you get up. You are up here to sleep. You stay in bed, PLEASE!" Never works. I'll hear him messing around before I get to the bottom of the steps. I usually let him play for a bit before I yell up to him to please get in bed. Eventually he always falls asleep. Sometimes it's an hour after originally putting him up there, sometimes longer. I don't have a problem with him playing up there before going to sleep. The problem is what he does while he is "playing." 
It's like he's the Tasmanian Devil!
I usually go upstairs and find a mess the likes of which are unmatched by any normal human children. I've stated before that I think he's from another planet, and I think this is just another point towards that. I'll find at least two books that he has ripped the pages out of. Good thing we have EVERY SINGLE CHILDREN'S BOOK EVER WRITTEN in our house. That way we have plenty more for him to rip up tomorrow! I've found clothes from both the kid's closet and ours, thrown about the floor. Once, I found three or four picture albums thrown on the floor(they were on a higher shelf in our closet.) They weren't really important pictures though. Just our wedding album, and the births of both kids. So you know it was really no big deal that he had pulled pictures out of each album. I often find the ENTIRE ROLL OF TOILET PAPER unrolled and strewn throughout the upstairs like he was TPing our house. Sometimes he has on an entirely different outfit  than what he was wearing when I put him up there. Sometimes, he's just naked. I once found him sleeping halfway under his sister's bed!
So, what I'm saying is, we have a problem! I close the three doors that are upstairs. The bathroom, the hall closet, and our bedroom. None of which have locks. Even though I'm not sure locks are a problem for him. The closets have sliding doors, and I am not sure I've seen baby locks for those type of doors, but as I said, he would figure out how to open them. I can't sit upstairs while he's up there, because he will know I'm up there and want to play with me. He needs a nap though. Without one he acts like he did tonight. A SCREAMING, CRANKY, OUT OF CONTROL LUNATIC!  Somebody please help me. Please tell me that one of my readers out there knows some magical secret to keeping him in bed. I've had people tell me to give him cough syrup to make him sleepy, but I'm just not that guy. So, I am going to put my faith in the blog world that someone out there knows how to solve this problem. You guys have helped me with so many other topics before, I know you won't let me down this time. And, if you don't have the answer, but think someone you know does, please pass this on to them. Not only could I use the help with this issue, but I could always use another reader.

   
I know you're thinking he doesn't look that crazy, but trust me. This is the poster child for crazy children everywhere. The thing is, I love this kid more than I could ever describe and I don't want to change a single thing about him. I just want him to not do things that could maybe hurt himself. Like pissing Daddy off to the point of NO RETURN!
Thanks again, and have another great day.

We had a third child today.

It was like my kids had never seen a baby before.
Today a coworker of my wife's called and asked if she could babysit for her little girl. Since Stacy was off work today, we said fine. The little girl was one year old. Today! It was her first birthday. I felt really bad that her mom had to work on her first birthday, so we tried to make it a really good day for her. But, my kids kind of scared the crap out of the poor little girl. They were both right up on top of her all day. I mean RIGHT UP ON TOP OF HER!!! Denny kept saying "Baby, Baby, Baby." He was so excited to see the baby. At least he's kind of talking now right? Sydney was trying so hard to be a good helper, and for the most part she was, but she was a little over the top as well. It really was like they had never seen a baby before. I think they were really excited about having someone else in the house, but WOW!
I'm at my limit!
Well, we had this little girl here, and it really made me absolutely, positively sure that I do not want anymore kids. The little girl didn't do anything to cause that. It's just that I realized that two is my limit in kids I can take care of at once. I don't know how those of you who have three or more do it. At least Stacy was home to help. In fact, she did most of the "work" when it came to the baby. The little girl wouldn't let Stacy put her down most of the day. We kind of figured out that she was scared of Denny. I mean when she screamed anytime he came near her was our first clue. I know he was just trying to enjoy the baby, but he was particularly crazy today. Like I said though, it made me know that I can't handle more than what I have now. Denny is such a handful that for us that adding a third child into the mix would be disastrous. Plus, Denny as the proverbial middle child? No thank you. So, this was a good thing today. The kids got to have another kid around to drive crazy. I got to get to that place where I'm 100% sure I'm done with making babies. Plus, Stacy even told me that while she really enjoyed having a baby in her arms, she was sure she didn't want anymore as well. Just seeing how our kids reacted was enough. Now, I know if we had one of our own, the excitement would wear off, but...
Never try to predict what our kids will do.
I learned something recently. My kids are so unpredictable. Just when I think I have them figured out, they surprise me. When I think they will be hard to handle in a public setting, they act like perfect children. When I think they will be hungry, they turn up their noses at any food. When I think they will be tired, they run nonstop until they finally drop. I just don't know what to think sometimes. I think that's what is so great about being a parent. Not knowing what will come next. It also scares the living crap right out of me! What are they going to be like as teenagers? Holy crap! I think I know what their personalities are going to be like, but like I said, I should never try to predict what they will do. It should be fun.
Issues.
I mentioned in a recent post that I have some family issues going on. Well, I just want to say that I'm not going to say anything else about it here except that I hate that it has happened the way that it has. It's been really hard for a while now, and it's only going to get worse. I really feel bad that things have gotten to this point, and while I feel as if I've done nothing wrong in this situation, I realize it takes two parties to have a disagreement. Someday I hope to fill you in that everything has been resolved and the family situation is good again. And, I'd like to thank all of you who have commented on the situation. Your advise is greatly appreciated.
With that, I'm done for the day. I hope you have another great day!
     

Am I doing the right thing?

Questioning my choice.
So events transpired today that have made me question weather I am doing the right thing with this whole SAHD thing. Have I made the right choice? Should I be out there working two jobs to support my family, not getting to see them ever? Should I have continued working at a job I hated, and that I was becoming increasingly unable to do due to my deteriorating health? I mean the fact is, I wouldn't be able to do my most recent job right now. If I had had to go into that store and do my normal duties, I would have been sent home due to not being able to do what was expected of me. My hands, hips, knees, wrists, elbows and shoulders were all gripped with pain for most of the day. Yet, I still ask myself if maybe I'm going about this the wrong way. Every day that my wife goes to work, I feel like it should be me leaving. I should be out there supporting my family. 
Issues for most SAHDs.
I have done quite a bit of reading about being a SAHD and a lot of times I read where SAHDs have this same issue that I do. I sometimes feel like less of a man because I stay at home, and my wife works. It doesn't help that I am not very mechanical, and my wife is. She is the one who fixes things, or puts things together in our house. So yeah, I question my manhood at times. I've got to believe that I'm not the only guy staying at home that does this right? Or, am I the freak?
Then I remember.
After I have those moments where I question my own manhood, I realize that there is really no set definition of manhood. I think a man does what he has to that is best for his family. My wife and I came the the decision for me to stay home together. We decided that it was better for us financially, better for my health, and better for our kids if I stayed home. I have to set these feelings that come up from time to time aside, and do what is now my job. I have to take care of my kids by providing for them here at home. I have to feed them(when they will actually eat) bath them, teach them manners, teach them right from wrong, play with them, referee their fights, and be the best father I know how. That's what I have to do, and it's what I'm going to continue to do no matter what some people might say. And, I'm going to do it better tomorrow than I did today. Every day.
I'm huge in Toledo!
I started this little blog about three months ago with the goal of using it as stress relief and possibly getting paid a little money some day. I knew that I would have to work hard to grow this blog to one that would be worthy of being paid for. I still have a LONG way to go to get to that point. It does appear that I have found a foothold in Toledo, Ohio though. Apparently there are people there that read my blog, and that makes me very happy. There are so many wonderful people in Toledo, and I truly loved living there for six years. It's a beautiful city and I encourage you to visit if you have never been there. If you get the chance, and like great food, take the time to visit JAlexanders on Talmadge Rd. It is amazing. I've went there a number of times with my wife, and sometimes with her family, and we have always had an amazing meal. 
So, I thank those of you in Toledo who are reading my blog and ask that you continue to do so. Maybe pass on the links to others so they too can enjoy my rants on being a SAHD!
With that, have a great night.