Cobbler.

We have two Cobblers right near our house. I think of shoe repair as a dying art form. George's, the place nearest our house, is just a wonder to look at. He probably has unfinished jobs from the 70's hidden away somewhere in the huge mess. I think his shop would make a great photo study and I wish I had the courage to go in and ask if I could spend a day with him just taking pictures of his place and his craft.

George's is actually listed on our local city search and was reviewed by one customer who said:

"My shoes were done 3 weeks late, and
only got 1/2 soled when I asked for full sole.
Many excuses were given."

Fantastic.

Enough with the work already!

It's seems it is like this every year at work. Just before the holidays there is a huge push to get our latest project done before the vacation. I can't stand it. However, the CEO has been very understanding about all this work that I've been doing from home and I really appreciate that. I just can't wait for it all to be over and I'll have a full week off with my family and that we be the best reward of all.

Hodge-Podge

Hodge-Podge (sp?)
Strange word isn't it.

Anyhow, Pistol and the M-O-M arrive today. No huge plans but lots a little ones, it'll be a busy time.

Almost ran out of soap in the shower. I hate working with that tiny little piece especially when it is on the verge of disappearing. I also hate going down to the basement to haul up more soap. Hate is a pretty strong word. Maybe I'm overstating my feelings towards the whole soap thing.

Worked very late in the evening last night and had to set the alarm to buzz me awake instead of using the radio. That sucked. I hate that buzzer. The radio is great because it puts me in a wonderful awke/dream state until the person next to me gives me a nudge and then I get up. It is a great way for me to wake up but it stinks for the CEO.

......

Sometimes (like now) I just like to put a small post out. I have a core audience that I don't want to loose. I feel that if I'm not updating my blog often enough my core will stop checking in and I can't have that.

It's that time of year.

Here we are again at Christmas time. The weekends are jammed full of stuff, there are ridiculous deadlines to meet at work and we've got some serious shopping to get done. Plus this year we have Z's birthday on Christmas day. Now that puts a smile on my face. The poor kid she doesn't know what she's getting in to.

"Now, that gift is for both your birthday and Christmas...."
(Yeah, right!)

Pistol and the Madre arrive soon. Poor Madre she's been traveling the US for the past two months. She's probably looking forward to a nice quiet Christmas at home. The Z has been threatening to walk for many weeks now. I thought for sure she'd be walking by the time M & D were out here. Now it seems like she may just cruise for months. It's so interesting to watch her and see how different her and The Kid are.

Thanks for all the interest in The Kid's pumpkin pictures. We have another roll to develop and I'm sure it will be full of some great shots for the blog. Keep checking in.

Slow

It has been a slow month or so for the blog. Hey s*#t happens. I am closing on year number two of the blog and I'm giving myself a pat on the back for that.

The pictures below are from the morning out The Kid and I spent taking pictures. We have since bought her two more disposable cameras and she loves taking pictures. It's so enjoyable to see her make the decision process of shooting a picture. Sometimes it is a very quick decision with seemingly no regard for the subject and other times it seems like it is a very thoughtful moment that she's trying to capture.

I had two wonderful glasses of wine with dinner and it feels very good in my body.

:)

"Smooshed" - The Pictures

Smooshed - 4
The Kid

"Smooshed" - The Pictures

Smooshed - 3
The Kid

"Smooshed" - The Pictures

Smooshed - 2
The Kid

 

"Smooshed" - The Pictures

Smooshed - 1
The Kid

 

It's over.......

Oct 26th 2005 The CEO enters the hospital and is diagnosed with meningitis....
Frankly the rest is history. I feel like we have told the story so many times already. While it was going down it seemed like such a good thing to blog now that it is over I don't want to talk about it anymore.

I need to say thanks to all the family and friends who supported us. There were some scary moments and all your love and support was greatly appreciated.

Thanks from the bottom of my heart.

-Tony C

Recovering nicely.

The guest room is still occupied.
The CEO's mom went home and Tony C's mom came to fill the gap.
The CEO is feeling much better and I'm betting she'll be nearly 100% by the time the M-O-M leaves town.

I'll be back in full force when this all blows over.

See you then. Or sooner if I can steal some time the guest room.

Still here.

The CEO had meningitis.
Wow!!!
Mother-in-law is still in town helping out. Thank god!
She occupies the guest room. My blogging spot.
I'll get back to it ASAP.

CEO is doing much better.
Thanks for all the concern.

Still empty.

I still seem to be struggling to put anything of substance in this blog. This problem has been going on for a year and a half now. Will I ever overcome it? Only time will tell.

Last weekend The Kid and I went out on a photo shoot together (that's were the picture of the pig is from). I picked up her photos from the store mid week and man are they funny. If I have time I'll scan some in and post them. Mostly they are pictures of the back seet of the car but there is a wonderful series of what she calls smashed pumpkins. They are actually pumpkins that rotted to the point of collapse, she thought they were great and took some pictures of them. She's wonderful.

Pig.

OINK

 

It's in the mail.

I'm sure you have all been waiting to hear the outcome of my crockpot decision. Well I've placed the order for a replacement ceramic pot and it should be coming any day now. You may now breath a sigh of relief. Also, I ordered a Williams-Sonoma book on slow cooker recipe's. It should be much better than the horrible one I currently have. I know this is such wonderful news you can't contain yourselves.

Staahbucks....

The kid is fixated on her Nana's accent. The CEO and I planted the seed, it started with the word "mine" which is pronounced "my-in" in Nana speak. Like a weed her obsession has grown. When asked about a piece of pottery in the house the Kid said "My Nana made that its been fired, Nana says fi-yaad." Then just tonight out of the blue she says "When Nana sees Starbuks she says Staahbucks, why does she do that?"

They have it.....

So I wrote to Rival about my Crockpot since they didn't advertise the liner I needed on their replacement parts list. They emailed me back and said they stock it and it is 16 dollars. I think I bought the Crockpot on sale for like 30 dollars. Do crockpot brands really make a difference? Do they sell one at Williams Sonoma for 3X the cost that cooks so much better? I can't imagine that there can be much of a difference but 30 dollars just seems like so little money for a kitchen appliance. Maybe the thing sucked and that's why all the meals tasted like boiled dinner? Oh well I still want a replacement part.

Such is life..........

Crockpot.

I bought a crockpot last year. I've probably used it 5 times. So far nothing tastes that great. Everything is kind of overcooked and too boiled tasting. It seems I could get the same results by just letting something cook on the range on low heat. Anyhow, it does help to have this thing on the nights The CEO works, I set it up in the morning and when I get in from work dinner is ready. So I keep looking for a worthwhile recipe. The problem is I just dropped the damn thing and the ceramic liner smashed to pieces. They don't sell a replacement on crockpot.com. What the hell.

Why do I expect anyone to read this blog when it has come to this.

I did find a great link though. You've got to check this spoof trailer out.

www.ps260.com/molly/SHINING%20FINAL.mov
(quick time file)

Organized?

I need to stay organized when I'm not a work. All I want is a calendar and phone list. I'd love something the size of a credit card or maybe even slightly bigger that could hold all this information. It seems I'm stuck between shitty electronic organizers that try and pose a PDA's or with a PDA that has more functionality than I'll ever use. I don't want to move to paper because I keep everything up to date on my work PC and I'd love to sync up with it.

I do use this little voice recorder I bought and it works great for some reason I always think of Jamie when I use it. I wonder why? Does he have one?

And how about our bathroom closet when is that ever going to be organized and the office desk that's reaching max capacity again.

Whatever......

So now I'm searching craigslist and ebay for a cheap PDA deal.

Found the Palm store sells Zire 21's for $50 with free shipping. That's not bad.

How much can we be deprived.

I have a scant 10 minutes or so to write. So here is my recollection of what happened last night. CEO please forgive any exaggerations.

12ish:
We just left the Z's room where she woke and started crying. So much for saying good night.
TC: Is that the Z crying.
CEO: How long should we let her cry.
TC: I don't know, I'm clueless. I don't know what I'm doing.
CEO: What, I can't hear you, your talking into the pillow.
TC: I don't know what to do. I'm clueless!
CEO: Oh... Me too.

12:30ish:
TC (Trying to sleep through the noise)
CEO: I can't take it I can't take the crying. I think she should come in here.
TC: I don't know.
CEO: Tomorrow we wont get her. She freaks out when we leave her room. Now she wants to be with us. It's almost better not to go in.

I don't know what timeish:
CEO: I'm bringing her in.
The Z arrives and does nothing but cry, poke and scratch us. We put up with this for some untold amount of time.
CEO: That's it Z back to your room.
The Z cries like crazy for what seems to be about 50 hours. The Kid wakes up and comes in our room.
The Kid: I can't sleep.
CEO: You can sleep here you just need to be quiet.

Now it's all becoming even more blurred. The Kid and The CEO leave the room to use the bathroom somewhere about post 2ish and at some point Z stop screaming as if she has passed out or been smothered. I instantly fall asleep. Then The CEO wakes me.

CEO: What happened.
TC: What, huh, I don't know.
CEO: She just stopped making noise. Is she alright? Did she pass out? Did you hear her?
TC: Yes, I know, what, I don't know. Yeah she stopped. Turn on the monitor. I'll check her.
CEO: Well did you hear anything.
TC: Yeah she just stopped.
CEO: Were you asleep.
TC: No, yeah, what. I'm sure she's OK. I'll check.
I sneak into her room and she instantly gets up on all fours. Before she can catch my eye I quickly dart out. No noises emanate. Disaster averted.

Now we just have to deal with The Kid who wont stop talking, turning and poking us. At some point I yell something like "I'm going crazy here!!!!" The CEO tells me to relax and tells the kid if she utters one more word she's going back to her room. That seems to work. We soon all fall asleep (probably sometime between 3 and 4). I wake at 8thiryish as does The Z.

There is no hope for us?

Spicing it up!

I've lost my audience.
OK so my blog may not be the place to go for earth shattering news or fantastic comic relief. But damn it it's my blog and umm.... I don't know.

I have been wanting to list all things Tony-C releated:
Tony C and the Truth
TonyC
Tony C (artist)
Who is this guy. Doesn't he know I'm the only Tony C blogger.
Tony C (another blogger)
This guy I like. He has a nice list.

I've always been in favor of lists.
I like the last Tony C and his list of things he wants to do and being a Tony C myself I'm going to steal (read: share) this idea. I'm reducing the list from 43 to 10. For now at least.

10 Things very simple things I'd like to do or have:

1) Eat less pizza and Thai food.
2) Ride my bike.
3) See more movies on the big screen.
5) Eat more fruits and vegtables.
6) Spend more time someplace quiet.
7) Own more socks.
8) Take more pictures.
9) Take naps.
10) Wear more hats.

See ya!!
Please come back again.

-The real Tony-C

Camping. (Actually it was yurting)

So this is what a yurt is. It was great fun and a lot more comfortable than staying in a tent. However, the campground was crowded and our neighbors were noisy. Hey what do you expect for a holiday weekend. The girls had a blast and the silly things that bother me or the CEO don't matter to them. We had a pretty relaxing trip saw some pretty cool stuff. This is a crazy big state with a lot to see and the landscape seems to be ever changing going from desert to dense forest in the blink of an eye.

Pretty cool picture of some rock formation. It seems almost like a watercolor painting.

4

The Kid turned four years old yesterday. She had a bunch of her friends over for a pirate party and I think she had a great time. What a whirlwind. No tears , at least I can't remember any kids crying, I guess that's a true sign that they are growing up.

Z's crying.....

Sleep.

Sleep has finally descended upon us. The Z is sleeping through the night (11 PM - 5 AM). OK so it isn't eight hours but man it's a lot better than three. Now here we sit together as I try and type this blog and she poops and tries to eat the keyboard.

I thought their mish-mosh of body parts was so cute.

Blog Change

It has been well over a year that I've been doing this blog thing and I'm thinking it might be time for a change. The initial intent of this blog was to remain anonymous but really who am I kidding, the only people who read this thing know exactly who I am. I may have believed that in remaining anonymous that I'd be able to escape being labeled as some guy whose life is dominated by two little girls (wonderful as they are) and that I would maintain some kind of private dual life online, reporting on my hilarious life. Anyhow, I think it is time to drop the barriers and start using names and pictures. What do you think? Are you still out there? Hello.....

Crazy, insane.

The E-Train has arrived with kids in tow and our quiet little house is full of craziness. As always we are having a blast, especially The Kid. And as always I'm extra tired now.

Why does something extra always go wrong when someone comes to visit? The damn shower is starting to leak again.

I've been consistently take the dogs out every night for a good long walk for the past few weeks. They really deserve it. It is pretty relaxing except for when they shit early in the walk and I have no place to dispose of the shit. I mean imagine if I said to you "why don't you go take a relaxing walk around the block, oh yeah and carry this bag of dog shit too." That's a good way to spoil a nice walk. Like they say: "It's better than a stick in the eye."

Feeling Negative.

It's one of those periods at work where there is just too much work. I feel like I'm drowning in problems and I'll never break free of them. I hate it. For the most part I love going into work and doing my job. Generally I have tasks that I can accomplish but when it feels like there is no end in sight then I'm less than excited to go in. There seems to never be any sense of accomplishment. Ugh. Also, it is hot as hell and I hate that too.

Karaoke.

China, what an interesting place. We were taken out for a little Karaoke fun after a long days work. I had heard about these places but until you experience it.... So anyhow I arrive late after putting in extra hours. It was recommended that I go or the host would be very disappointed. OK, so I show up to this private Karaoke room where our host is drunk out of his mind and my colleagues are surrounded by women. One of them looking happy and one looking checked out. Within seconds of my arrival a lineup of women is brought into the room and I'm asked to choose a girl. I decline. I'm asked again "Go on choose a girl, just someone to sit with." this is business in China. What the F! This girl sits next to me and I pretty much sit still staring blankly into space constantly thinking "when are we going to leave this awful place, should I try and manage a cab in this crazy town, this is not my idea of fun." Meanwhile every ten minutes the host is saying to me "first time in China, live it up, drink up, I hook you up." Who is this fool. Finally after about an hour we leave. Thank God. The more I look back on it the more I question how did I get myself into that position and how do I get out of it if I'm ever caught in a position like that again. I think initially I was very curious as to what this Chinese version of Karaoke was all about but after a few moments I had had my curiosity satisfied. No need to ever do that again. Friggin gross!!

Hong Kong. Man this place is big!

China Flight

Been on a lot of planes lately. This time on on my way to China for work. Why do planes make me so tired yet unable to sleep. I have trouble reading more than a few pages of a book. It as is “they’ve” created the perfect recipe of physical “uncomfortableness” to stupefy us into…..”stupification”. You know so we’ll just sit hear quietly and endure this endless monotony. I would really love to sleep. I don’t think it’s going to happen right now it is 10:10 pm the flight left the ground at 1:30pm and I’ve still got four hours of this shit left. I wish I brought some DVD’s or bought some computer game that would have numbed me into some video timeless haze. Maybe I can pick one up in China for cheap. I’ve already watched three crappy movies and read the New Yorker (not entirely), I’ve even cracked open one of my books and read a chapter. Yet there is still so much free time and place this physical environment and the noise makes it so hard to think clearly. “Sleeping pills!!!” That could have been the answer why didn’t I think of that!!!

Late Night

I'm trying to fix this mess of a PC. It is almost midnight and I think I'm almost there. The bad news is all of the programs are missing. Basically all we can do is connect to the web. Somehow I need to get copies of all the junk that was on here. I know it can be done but nothing is ever fast enough or easy enough when it comes to computers. Also I'm wating for some huge file to download and I don't know how much longer it will take 15 min, 60 min. I've got to go to bed for god sake.

Still Under Attack

This PC is still under attack. It may be time for a Mac.
Must go....being attacked by pop-ups....

Under Attack

The CEO downloaded something bad and we are under a severe popup attack! I hate trying to clean this stuff out of the PC because often time it doesn't work.

We're getting back on a plane this week and heading to Beantown. I'm looking forward to it. However, it seems our vacations have been stacked to close to one another this year. It feels like the summer will be over when it hasn't even started.

The Kid is pretty sick. The CEO took her to the ER last night because her little heart was racing and she had an awful cough she couldn't shake. When we were eating dinner she was racing through it, we told her to slow down and she said "I can't because my heart is beating so fast." Come to find out it was true. Poor little kid.

5:00 AM

Kid 2 has been up since 2:30 AM and it is now 5:00 AM. She shows no signs of wanting or needing any sleep. Quite the opposite of what I am feeling. She's sitting behind me in the exersaucer having a ball. The little .....

My whole life revolves around this thing people call sleep. What is it? Why do people do it? When will I get a chance to try it out?

Sleep (AKA: The Great Big Mystery)

Please come to me sleep please. I want to know you. I want to love you. I NEED YOU!!!

Lawn Mower

Picked up the $30 Craig's List lawn mower on Friday. It's just what the doctor ordered. I like to justify my cheapness by hiding behind the three R's (Reduce, Re-use, Recycle) it seems very "Portland." But really I don't need to buy a new lawn mower to mow my tiny little lawn. The motorless push mower I've been using for the past few year would have probably been just fine if I'd bothered to cut the lawn more often.

We just recently got back from LA, our former home. What a mad house. I forgot what it was like to drive in real traffic. There is so much to love and hate about LA. I had a great time when we lived there I did get used to what people hate about it like smog, crime, congestion etc... I mean it didn't even bother us when the LAPD helicopter was spot light was swinging through our yard trying to track down some criminal I presume and we lived in a "safe" neighborhood. Bottom line about the trip: We had a great time and The Kid had a blast her little buddy down there might as well be her soul mate.

Everyone left days ago. Z's blessing went off without a hitch. Unfortunately the weather well everyone was here was pretty lousy. As soon as everyone left the clouds left and the sun came storming out. Oh well.

To all those people in the Northwest who say you don't need air conditioning --- "Bite Me." We have are going on our fourth summer season and so far it is shaping up to be like all the others, pretty hot.

So I tried the free 7 day trial of the new yahoo music service. I thought it would be great they stock over one million songs that you can access without purchase. Here is a word to the wise, one million songs is not enough. I couldn't find many songs I had the desire to listen to.

So it seems The Pistol is very concerned over what social values we subscribing to as a culture. He is specifically concerned about all the reality television.
"What does it say about us?"
I'm not sure it says anything negative about us or not but I'm definitely not at the concerned level yet.

The Pistol and the Madre arrived today. This is the beginning of the visitors. It should be fun and probably somewhat confusing. It is only Tuesday night yet it feels like the weekend is already here. It's going to be interesting to watch the dynamics of this whole weekend.

I've had B&J's ice cream after dinner two nights in a row. It's delicious why wouldn't you eat it every night if given the opportunity?

The web is an awful thing sometimes. I've probably been sitting hear for 20 minutes and I've only written this much because every foolish idea that pops in to my head I do a Google search on. Do I really need to know about Flax?

What!?

"Once upon a time I was falling in love, now I'm only falling apart. Blah blah blah blah blah. A total eclipse of the heart."

What the heck is that all about. Why did I wake up with that incomplete sappy old top 40 line playing over and over in my head? The brain is such a strange thing.

The other odd thing about this morning is I just realized that I forgot to shave. I did my normal routine yet left out the shaving part. Why is that? What would make my brain skip what is a daily task. Maybe my body is telling my brain that my face needs a rest. Maybe not.

There are some funny words or phrases I've just thought about. Such as:
"This morning" spoken as "Thismornin"
"Cold Cuts" spoken as "Co-cuts"
It wasn't till I was older that I realized it was "cold cuts." I thought that "co-cuts" meant sliced deli meat.

Delicious

We spent a nice Mother's day out and about yesterday and we capped it off with a nice slushie bubble tea. What's up with bubble tea? Don't get me wrong I do love the stuff but when did it hit the shore's of America and also when did the big name gourmet coffee shops turn into ice cream parlors? Let's be honest Starbucks has become a fancy Dairy Queen. Some of the smoothies are close relatives to the Dairy Queen Blizzard.

Doing it Old School Style.
(Click on image for larger (readable) picture)

Toothbrush Sharing.

"Go downstairs, brush your teeth and then use the potty!! It is time for bed."
Moments later she's back upstairs, toothbrush in mouth, brushing away like a little pro. The only problem is she's using my toothbrush and she knows it.
"Why are you using my toothbrush?"
She tells me it is a special night because she's going to use my toothbrush and I get to use hers. You just can't argue with someone so cute (even though I often try with varying levels of success).

Jungle.

Our yard is nearing disaster alert status. Just this past weekend I was using the weedwacker as a lawn mower, for two reasons. One being that the grass is too high to cut and the second being that my old hand push lawn mower is horrible. Weeds are everywhere too. Who ever said owning a home was a good idea, maybe for someone who likes there life to be filled with labor intensive projects. Ahhhhhh!!

Have we turned the corner? The Z seems to be sleeping in more than three hour increments. Yessss! It strange though, I've sort of become used to this feeling of constantly being tired. I mean it's not like I'll miss it but it's almost as if I can't remember what it is like to feel rested. I'm looking forward to re-learning about that.

Major success story.

6:55 PM and both girls are sleeping. I rock! The CEO is actually at Hooters of all places celebrating a friends birthday. And me, well I'm sitting in front of the computer typing a blog entry, oh how exciting my life is. It is times like this when I think what harm could come from taking a walk around the block or maybe even a quick trip to the coffee shop? I'd never do it but I so want to. I mean the kids would probably keep sleeping and they probably wouldn't be kidnapped. It's just not a good idea.

So I've got the new digital camera and I thought the pictures would be flowing out of me but once again time is my enemy. I will attain my goal of a more photo laced blog it is just going to take some time, I'm very determined one this idea. I love photography and I had really been itching for a digital camera for quite a while. I hope to pepper my life with a little more artistic expression through this new camera.

Tony-C Reinvented

The Oregon Coast.

The new beginning of "Tony-C". With our new digital camera, courtesy of my job, the blog begins a new photo rich chapter.

Welcome.

I hate times like now, when I really want to sit and write something, yet nothing comes to me.

The CEO left her credit card out on the office desk. Had I not just found it The Kid would probably be the next most likely and we could consider it gone at that point.

I've got big changes for the blog up my sleeve. Stay tuned.

Just ran across this great blog title and sub-title while blog surfing:
-- Neglecting My Kids--
Who do you think is watching my three kids while I knit and blog and eat bonbons in front of my soaps?

Need an upgrade.

Been thinking about giving the blog an upgrade.
It's seeming old and tired and I don't want to abandon it, I just want to give it a new paint job.

Any ideas out there?

The Z's Blessing.

Thank God for the Z's blessing.
Our house needs a major clean up and having all the visitors coming will force us to straighten up!

So it is officially offcial. We saw Judge Loy today and he signed the adoption certificate. I think we got some good photos of the event.

I've got so much work "work" to do it is ridiculous. I hate bringing work home! My boss is good about comp time so I'll be taking some days off really soon to make up for all these late nights I've spent on my laptop. The CEO and I are going to go visit our friends in LA with my time off. Also I got a small bonus for having a patent filed that should pay for the trip so that's a nice thing.

Gotta run. Too much to do and too little time.

CEO Sleeping.

It used to be that the CEO couldn't nap. She couldn't fall asleep while watching TV or reading a book. Now these things are no problem. Man is she tired. Don't worry CEO it will only be like this for the next 20 years ;)

We just got back from our vacation in sunny Florida and do I ever need a vacation. We had a good time and The Kid had a great time. However the logistics for planning fun with four kids and five adults can be intersting to say the least.

It's 10:50pm and I just finished some crackers and cheese. Now it is time for bed.

Intersting blog featured on npr:

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

Road blogging.

We are off to Sunny Florida on Tuesday.
I'm going to attempt to do some blogging from the road.
Maybe I'll try the audio blog feature again. It didn't work the first time I tried it. There is so much to do before we go, yet here I sit wasting time in front of the computer.

It's garbage night. I hate garbage night! We generate so much garbage. How is it possible and there is so much cardboard in our lives. Where does it all come from and why does it keep coming.

Sanibel Island?

We are on our way to Florida in a few days. We are staying with my in-laws. This will be the first meeting between them and Little Z. The original plan was to stay at their condo on Sanibel Island. Things have changed. They sold the condo and are renting a place in Ft. Meyers until they can find a house. I believe they were hoping to have a new place on Sanibel before we arrived. Such is life. I'm just looking forward to doing nothing. I've been so busy at work I've been bringing it home with me which really goes against my core values.

The Kid loves to "help." She even loves to help me scoop up our dogs shit. I'm glad of this. I'm glad she's not grossed out. I'd love it if this became her job. However right now she just doesn't have the physical control to do this job with out possibly making a huge mess, this doesn't stop her from trying. The other day I had to battle her for control of the pooper scooper shovel. "Get your finger off!", "I can do it!", "Don't worry!" These were some of the statements she made as I wrestled to control the flying poop. As she and I struggled she kept grabbing the shovel at lower and lower points to try and gain more control. It seemed she was inches from the ground and the offending dog poop, gross. She was having trouble and wanted so badly to complete the job, she looked up at me and said "Maybe you have to cut it?" She raised the shovel and prepared to cut the shit. At this point I had to end it, I had to take over. I hate picking up after the dogs. How long do I have before The Kid thinks it is gross, I'm guessing that will happen before she's old enough to do it as a job. It seems it is maybe my unfortunate fate to always have this task.

The Star Wars Kid - The Last Jedi (Remix) - music video

The Star Wars Kid - The Last Jedi (Remix) - music video

This link is a riot. Apparently this kid recorded himself in the AV lab in his highschool doing star wars moves with a long pole. Somehow the tape got out and some creative SW/internet person edited the raw video added the intro and added the light saber effect..

Auto Pilot.

My alarm rang 1/2 an hour early this morning. I forgot to reset it from yesterday. I shot up, stumbled down to the shower and didn't realize this horrible error until I was out of the shower and I looked at the clock. What's wrong with that clock, I thought. Nothing you fool you woke up a precious 1/2 hour early. Ahhhhhhhh!!!! I've been complaining about sleep for weeks and I do this to myself. What an idiot.

You know I thought I was cool, I thought I was hip to the web and I missed this whole "Numa, Numa" madness. Thanks biG for the video link. That video is a riot. It seems to becoming more and more likely that we will all have our 15 min. of fame someday.

Pinecone.

What a Mess!
That's a blurry picture of a small portion of the computer desk in the guest room/office. You know your desk has gotten out of hand when you have a giant pinecone as part of the clutter. Is there hope for us?....

Sitcom.

The invention of the sitcom seems to me to be a natural extension of having kids. If you can step out of the madness it is quite easy to see the humor in this life with kids. Maybe "quite easy" is an overstatement. However, the physical comedy alone is enough to keep you laughing for 1/2 an hour.

It is so frustrating when all I can do is sit here and think:
"I'm tired, tired, tired, tired"
Maybe writers block stems from exhaustion? I sound like a broken record. I think I'm going to change my blog subtitle to my Mantra.

Blog Anniversary

Tomorrow the 27th marks the one year debut of this blog. As an homage I'm reprinting some quotes from my first day of blogging.

Good morning. Maybe a couple comments at the computer in the morning will become my ritual......Last night our daughter performed her first "one-person" show in our living room. She's 2 1/2 and it almost brought tears to my wife's eyes...... What happened to me today? How can I make my life seem more appealing to the blogging masses?.....Eating, now there is something I'm good at......I can't believe that I ever thought a MiniVan would be cool......It's a whole new life a strange and wonderful life and I'm loving it.

One year and still going strong! It was my goal from the beginning to make it to a year. I've done it and I think I've set up a routine that will be hard to break and that's what I wanted.

Keep on blogging on Tony C.

Super Dad!!

I'm off to music class with the two girls. Every week I get compliments from the other parents like:
"It's so great you give your wife a break."
"You've got it all under control."
"You're doing a great job!"

So far I've been very lucky with the girls when in class. The compliments are very much undeserved but they feel great and I soak 'em up with out a problem. I've probably just jinxed myself, Z is starting to squirm.

MSN Money - Luxuries you can live without -- and should

Thought this was both funny and kind of true.

MSN Money - Luxuries you can live without -- and should

Needle in a haystack.

This blog is specific to my fellow Oregon readers/parents.
So far this is the most comprehensive site I've found regarding Portland Public Schools. It takes forever to check out all the schools but it seems that a lot of information is linked from this one page. Enjoy.

http://www.ode.state.or.us/data/reportcard/reports.aspx

Change the district selection to Portland SD 1J and all our schools will be there.

It's all the same.

The bowling alley. What a wonderful place. I've been to many bowling alley's in many a state and they are all the same. As soon as you step in that door you could be anywhere in America. They all seem to be in the same condition not rundown but not well kept. Even the front desk seems to always be in the same spot. The strangest sameness is the people. A bowling alley seems to primarily draw a certain type of person. There is something comforting about going to a place like this. It's a place where we all can feel at home. Maybe that goes to far but the familiarity is comforting.

Yawn.....

When I do get a moment the first thought in my head is "I'm so tired." The sad thing is this is what I'm thinking when I'm busy too.

Why does a morning shower feel so good?
"What make an ocean wave wave?" (That one is for the Mass born readers)
Why do we hang on to so much stuff?

I just started a course at work called "Voluntary Simplicity" it meets once a week at lunch and it hosted by the North West Earth Institute (www.nwei.org). I think it's going to help me do some big purging.

The kid is up.
Over and out.

I'm still here.

No time to blog.
What a shame.
Just want the droves of fans to know I'm still here and I'll be getting back to it as soon as possible.

Peace!

Sleeping children

Both kids fast asleep and the best I can come up with is this: "Quick go write about nothing in you silly little blog." I guess I should give my blog more credit. The writing is a form of stress relief or relaxation. Unfortunately our computer screen died and I've plugged in our 7 year old screen that had been sitting in the basement and the picture is horrible. I can hardly read a thing and my eyes are starting to bother me from the strain. Why can't I do a horizontal shift on this screen! Hitting the side of it doesn't see to help. This is screen is worthless.

Big football bash going down today. Can't wait to chow down on some wings!! Go Patriots!!!

No Routine.

I used to have some sort of a routine in the mornings. Now it's gone. With the addition of the Z and her still crazy sleep schedule I can't establish a routine, yet. So when I do have a moment to blog, this is what happens: emptiness, nothingness. Z has been steadily making progress in the smile department, which is great. Yesterday the CEO said she almost managed a laugh. It's so amazing to see a person come in to being. I love being a Dad but I just need more sleep.

one handed blogging. this is what it has come to. this is the price you pay to be a dad. how much can this tiny little......just back from a changing. The CEO has her now. The CEO, she's cold constantly. Put on a sweater I say. That's not the problem, this house is cold she responds. And so it goes every night.

Still tired.

The blog is approaching its one year anniversary. Amazing. Have I run out of thing to say. Today I have. The thing is that I'm tired. That is the bottom line. Everyday around 4:00 PM my body shuts down. That's not so good at work and it is even worse at home. These infants really push you to the limit on sleep deprivation. I know it will end but when!

G-parent visit.

The Madre has been here since last Tuesday and Pistol arrived yesterday (Friday). Sadly he will take leave of us at 8:00 AM on Sunday. However, we all believe that his efforts to get home will be futile, since he is 1) Flying through CHI and 2) BOS is being hit by a major storm tonight and tomorrow. It seems he will not be denied his departure. With any luck his flights will be much delayed and we will find that out before we go to the Airport tomorrow. The Madre is staying for a few more days. That's great!! We love having her hear and would love it if she'd stay longer. She seems to have a limit of one week that has no override switch. They have been both enjoying the new granddaughter and the CEO and I have been enjoy the extra help. We were even able to go see a move today, Neverland. It was fantastic! It is highly recommended by Tony C. It's hard to put into words what was so great about it since it wasn't powerful or hysterically funny. It was just "wonderful." It was a very beautiful story very well told with likeable characters....ummmm....I don't know. Maybe it was a love story. I think that is what it really was a love story and I was able to connect with the emotions of the movie and they were quietly powerful. If that makes any sense. There are a lot of movies on my must see list right now but I think number one is Sideways. I just love Paul Giamatti, he was great in American Splendor (well worth the rental).

See ya!

Thanks for all the comments recently. The TV discussion was great. However, I don't know if I'll be adding the Gilmore Girls to my list of programs. Is it only in reruns? I'd hate not to give it a test run after so many rave reviews but I really don't want to add to my list if I can help it. Maybe I should just drop ER.

Television......................

2kool's most recent post was all about TV watching. I think she has hit on a great blog topic, life topic even. Television, the medium we hate to love and love to hate and love to love. Anyhow here are some of my thoughts around the shows I currently watch whether I want to or not.

-My guilty pleasure show is: Desperate Housewives. What a piece of soap operatic trash!! I love it.
-My reality TV shows: The Apprentice. You gotta love "The Donald". However, I feel that this show is fading fast. But I'll hang on for this season, you know just to keep in the know. The other reality TV show I watch is "The Amazing Race". Not much to say about this one. I just love to see the couples bicker.
-The show I'd love to stop watching: ER. Been watching this one from the beginning and am attached to the characters. I can't seem to let them go. I really should. The show sucks.
-Then there is HBO. "It's not TV it's HBO." Like Larry David said "Come on of course it's TV we are watching it on TV." Anyhow the shows are of better quality and I love 'em. The ones I watch are: The Larry David Show, Six Feet Under, Entourage and The Sapranos.

That is a shit load of TV. I gotta stop this! Not to mention that on some nights I'm watching TV just to relax. That's no good. I complain about having no time and being really tired. Cutting out TV would open up huge amounts of time for me to get things done or to sleep. Now I know I'll never cut TV out of my life but maybe I can reduce my viewing time. I should at least start with eliminating the junk watching time. I'll try, maybe.

Yogi Rules!!!

Yogi Coudoux

In my very informal survey it seems that only men of the right age remember the incredible Yogi Coudoux. I don't know what it was about Yogi but if you were a young boy when "That's Incredible" was on the air you lived for seeing Yogi get into the plexi-glass box and be submerged underwater. For all I know he was left in the box for days. Recently my sister, brother-in-law and I rediscovered Yogi online and I felt like a twelve year old boy again. Thanks Yogi. Your talents will never cease to entertain me.

The rock.

I'm at the rock for my Grandfather's wake and funeral. It's a sad occurrence yet he lived a wonderfully long life and he got to know his great granddaughter and was well aware of the arrival of Z and even had a picture of her at the hospital with him. That makes me very happy.

The CEO is home with the two kids. Luckily her sister came out to visit and she will be helping out a lot. There has not been much sleeping going on lately. Z is only 13 days old so she's up every two hours to eat.

I went to bed (on the potato bed) at 10 PM woke up at 9 PM. Fantastic.

I owe the CEO a night or two of uninterrupted sleep big time.

Jealous.

I've got to admit I'm jealous.
Oh they laughed at me when I started my blog. Now there all doing it. Who's laughing now!

My wife's blog (aka: The CEO) has been red hot with readers. She has been busy posting thoughts and pictures during our adoption process. She told family and friends to check out her blog for updates. Even I've been telling people to go to her site for updates. She's doing a great job and I think it has been a lot of fun hearing people talk about the blog and some people have even posted comments. Yet I, I who was out there on the blogging frontier still toil in relative anonymity. In part I want it this way. Well not in part but in whole. I have told relatively few about my blog and I get the occasional comment which I truly appreciate. However, I guess I had always hoped for more. But I wanted "more" to spread by word of mouth not by my own promotion. I wanted "more" to spread because of the utter brilliance of my written word. Alas, the brilliance remains undiscovered or more likely untapped.

Enough about me what I'd really like to say is "Three cheers for the CEO!!!" Your blog kicks ass.