One SAHD Dude

Hockey Fun: Don Cherry's Piano

2011-12-27T19:12:00.000-05:00

Ran across this one on YouTube and can appreciate it since I've grown up with Don Cherry while watching the Red Wings over the years.

Don Cherry's Piano Desk:

Impatient Dog Honks Car Horn

2011-12-04T09:44:00.001-05:00

This is classic! Detroit Councilman Charles Pugh posted this video to Twitter this morning. An apparently impatient dog is honking the horn to get their owner out of the store!

Update of the month (or two)

2011-03-29T14:02:00.000-04:00

Obviously there isn't a whole lot going on around here. Planning some vacation time (woohoo!) and getting ready for some major Spring cleaning, which includes finishing the trim work on the living room paint job from last year.
I've fallen in love with my Kindle recently and have been reading some classics. Currently I'm digesting Walden and so far I'm finding that much of what Thoreau is ~~discussing~~ ~~moaning~~ ~~deliberating~~ ~~bitching~~ bantering about is just as true today as when he had his little 'experiment' at the pond. Yes, bantering. I like that to describe his style :-)

Other recent classics on my book list?
Treasure Island: loved it
Adventures of Tom Sawyer: not sure what all the fuss is about
Adventures of Huck Finn: better than the first

In other news: Good Eats is fading to an end this season. I'm debating what to do with my GE blog. I'm not strictly an Alton Brown fan, more of a Good Eats the TV show fan; so what to do now? Maybe a poll for all my readers soon.

Frustrated Snacker

2011-01-09T16:15:00.000-05:00

I have a Snickers bar that I'd like to eat in peace,
Three days desire grows for this luscious little treat,
Always some disturbance deviates me from my snack,
A quiet moment for this feast sadly do I lack,
Prepare the wrapper to unravel,
Crinkles seem to psychic travel,
A toddler magically appears,
"May I have some please?"
No you can't, no you shant,
This is Daddy's and Daddy's alone,
Now I have to listen to my child whine and moan,
Back in the drawer to wait some more,
My little chocolate tease,
I still have a Snickers bar that I'd like to eat in peace.

Anyone who has been around kids will know what I mean :-)

First Steps on the Path

2011-01-05T00:37:00.000-05:00

I often tune out the world and tune in to my headphones in search of inspiration. This week I got a double dose as I was catching up on some posts by a fellow blogger during my 'musical mass' as I like to call it. A song can not only offer something through lyrics, but can take you somewhere else entirely. Any Beatles song can jog my mind to a certain place in time and bring back memories that may open a window for thought.

"Everyone dies. But not everyone lives."

ponder that one for a second and think of what it means to you

For me it brought about a quick self assessment and 'yeah, I'm living.' But then I really thought about it and scores of feelings that have been boiling in my gray matter over the past months came to the surface. Well, no, I'm not really alive right now. As my daughter has grown into a highly active and inquisitive toddler I've struggled to keep up with her constant need for knowledge/companionship/leadership/guidance/ and everything in between. Being pulled in so many directions as a parent, along with all the other events life has thrown my way recently, has left me in a loop of floating from day to day. When you forget about yourself and the little things that bring you joy, then you live mainly to serve purposes and the positive energy that starts your day off with a smile dissolves. This topic has been forming in my thoughts and Stew's post launched it to the forefront along with other random events this past week.

One such trigger was a visit to my parents' place for a short vacation over the holidays. They were displaced, as have many, from Michigan a few years ago and resettled in lovely Charleston, SC. There's a sort of a, well, we'll call it a Catch-22 for lack of a better description. They live in a great place, have a wonderful social life, lots of things to keep them occupied but there is an underlying paranoia wrapped around the fear of yet again losing their jobs and nearly obsessive worrying about money that is holding them back from living out their dreams. The wife and I have always tried to maintain at least some sense of adventure no matter how broke we were at times, though seeing my parents in that state shocked me into realization that we, ourselves, could easily slide into a similar path of drudge if not aware.

I stumbled upon a few more signposts this week while catching up on reading. The first was an article in some trash magazine the wife was reading. She pointed out a story on Drew Carey and his weight loss/road to better health. Turns out in my pile of material was the Parks & Rec winter issue with my earmark on the exercise programs. I've become a sloth this past summer due to being overwhelmed in my parental duties. I hit a rough patch and all but eliminated my long hikes on the trails. I used to load my toddler in the backpack an hit the dirt, but somehow never managed to meld her independence and inquisitiveness with being able to move more than ten feet down a path. It was a great learning experience as she poked through every little blade of grass, but I lost out on my only real physical activity and didn't work hard enough to replace that time. So, here I sit with a nice guy perched on the waistband and aching hip joints.

So. Now what? How do I start living again? Past experience has proven motivation will be hard to come by on its own. Being forced into a schedule is likely what will be required. Thus the reason I had the Parks & Rec guide handy. I discovered back int he summer that they had not only a small and inexpensive gym, but also inexpensive child care to boot. Obviously motivation never took hold. Signing up for some sort of exercise program might just do the trick to get me on a regimen. Because hey, with the wife working midnights 7 on/7 off and me working weekends, I have absolutely no structured schedule anymore.

I recognize there are aspects of my life which need to be rearranged and/or improved. I am also starting to feel a strong desire to make these changes; not only for my own well being, but for my little nuclear family. I'm not too worried about my daughter since every little thing we do is geared towards her happiness and always giving her the best little nudges forward as she grows. However, I know the wife is also in a rut with me and my task will not be complete until she shares that positive energy and smiles on life with me.

All You Needs is Now...

Vacation Gone South

2011-01-03T17:46:00.000-05:00

We just returned from the worst vacation ever. Well, there was a little ray of sunshine; our daughter did get to spend some Christmas time with her grandparents and was happy. As for myself, intestinal flu struck on the second day and it was all suffering from there on out. A round of head colds for the whole family freeted us upon our return to cap things off properly. I have to put a humorous spin on this whole mess just to keep my spirits up.

During the 15 hour drive home, including stopping at nearly every rest area, the wife and I decided to limit our road trips to a 300 mile radius for the time being. This is all fine with me since I have been longing to return to my roots of traveling Michigan and all her natural beauty. It's amazing how many trips I have taken 'Up North' and still can find so many hidden gems left unexplored.

Fall Finale

2010-10-26T12:48:00.000-04:00

I was just out on the deck enjoying what is most likely the last vestiges of the pleasant Fall weather we've been enjoying this year. There is a major cold front approaching, along with some nasty storms; yet it is deceptively comfortable outside. A mild breeze is blowing, pushing leaves around in waves and swirls with near 70 degree warmth. Within the hour the temperature will fall, winds will pick up to near tornado force, and rain will come tumbling down in torrents. Or so they say. For the next few minutes I'm going to head back out there and soak up the smells and sounds of Fall in all its glory.

Cooking: Creative Process in the Recipe

2010-10-12T15:09:00.000-04:00

After rifling through my recipes,searching the Net, and catching up on some cooking shows I drew up a rather large grocery list and set off to the store. As part of my strategy to get myself back into shape, both mentally and physically, I've put more emphasis on cooking. I've always loved to experiment in the kitchen, but lately it seemed as if I was merely trying to keep up with putting food on the table and not really putting much creative thought into the process. This week I have three new recipes on the board, along with a few other items I've tried before. Not only do I find a bit of satisfaction in putting out some delicious and (at least somewhat) healthy food in front of my family, but it's a nice little boost to my self confidence and can be fun if I'm not rushing around too much!

p.s. I managed to get most of the garage cleaned out while the little one was napping, though I hear her waking up now and my Good Eats blog will just have to wait until this evening for an update.

Step Back

2010-10-01T15:00:00.000-04:00

I have a favorite chair, some shows stockpiled on the DVR, and cold beer in the fridge. I really need to pour myself a cold one and flop into that chair for a few hours and enjoy some peace and quiet.

Like most parents, I spend the majority of my day busy with everything from child rearing to housework to tackling whatever issues come up at the worst possible moment. Lately, read the last few months, I have let my worrying get out of control and dominate my life. When that happens I don't sleep well, I get less accomplished despite spending more time thinking about what I need to do, and my general quality of life just drops. This isn't good; especially since the main purpose in my life right now is taking care of my wife and daughter's needs. I can't give them what they deserve from me when I'm not at my best.

I guess the first step is that I recognized I was slipping. I'm already taking the next step and working to correct the problem. I've never been a super organized person, so it's taking some extra effort to force myself into a more rigid schedule; particularly getting up before my two year old and taking care of my needs first thing in the morning. I also picked up a flyer from the local parks & rec and checked out their little gym. I'm going to be starting a workout regimen next week when the wife is off.

I haven't figured out just how I'm going to get any free time to myself yet. The wife works 7 days on / 7 off and I work every weekend, which doesn't make for much time when we are both off. Also, neither of us have any close relatives that can watch our daughter to give us a much needed break. Luckily, my parents are coming for a visit in a few weeks and that will give us some time to escape.

Tonight I'm going to sit in my chair, dangle my leg over the side, and watch some TV while I sip beer and try to block out everything else from my mind.

Alive and kicking

2010-08-11T20:20:00.000-04:00

Yes. I'm still out here. Summertime seems to require oh so much more work though there is a lot more fun to be had. At least in the northern climates. Blueberry picking last week, pool today, nature center tomorrow. The only thing holding me back this year has been the extra hot and humid weather. It's hard to take a two year old out when it's 95 and humid.

Excited only 28 days until we head out on vacation!!!

End of the Week

2010-06-28T00:26:00.000-04:00

It's the end of the week. Daughter is asleep, three of four cats are sleeping in the computer room, and the A/C is humming along, trying in vain to keep it livable up here on the second floor.

The weather was in full summer bloom this week and I made sure to take advantage of the sunny days by getting out for a 1.5 mile wagon pull while my daughter looked at the flowers blooming in the fields, people walking their dogs, and kids playing soccer at the park. I was amused listening to her go on and on about her sun glasses, or 'eyes' as she calls them. After getting off to a slow start in the speaking skills, she has become somewhat of a chatterbox lately.

It was also a week of small victories for me. In my half-hearted attempt to get myself in shape I have been hitting the rowing machines, going on the aforementioned walks, and eating a bit better. I only had two pops this week; way down from the old habit of 2-3 per day! There was also a good bit of progress on the living room/foyer painting project at the expense of a couple very late nights. I'd much rather paint during the day when it's easier to see my work in the sunlight, but 2 year olds have a knack for 'helping' a little too much when you really wish they would sit and play for a while. Next week and i have a lot to do, way too much in fact, and will have to whittle down the list else I go mad and end up without any accomplishments.

Trash Day

2010-06-25T00:37:00.000-04:00

Today was beautiful. Just enough over 80 not to be too hot, yet warm enough that the wind would not bother anyone. I loaded my little girl into her wagon and set off for the park. I've been taking her for at least a mile walk every night as part of my effort to get back in shape and also to get ready for another trip to Disney this Fall. So, pull the wagon half a mile or so, get to the park and notice the township had spread fresh mulch down. I was excited since the main reason I don't go to my little park play yard too often is that so many of my neighbors think it's a good idea to let their large dogs crap all over while their kids are playing. Much to my dismay, we get in there only to discover that somebody had taken one of the garbage cans and spread the contents all over the jungle gym. They didn't just knock it over; the trash was strewn everywhere. So much for slide time. Tomorrow we'll get in the car and drive to one of the better parks in the area.

On the brighter side. I stayed up late last night and painted a few section of the living room/foyer and managed to do the ceiling trim. Hopefully next week I can attempt to tackle the 25 foot high side walls.

Return of the SAHD Guy

2010-06-09T23:17:00.000-04:00

Has this blog really been languishing since February? I'm sure I can find a few excuses around here somewhere.... The irony, looking at my last post, is that we just booked yet another trip to Disney World; the week after Labor Day this time. Weather should be ~~flaming hot~~ nice enough to go in the pool and it's the lowest attendance week of the year.

What have I been up to over the past four months? Well, for starters I've actually been making a little progress on some home projects, primarily getting the living room and foyer painted. It's the most disjointed room I've ever seen and, as any parent knows, toddlers are all too eager to help with whatever you're doing! In light of my revelations about home projects and how long they will take, I have re-focused my days around the family. Kids are only kids for so long I plan to make the most of my time as a stay at home parent.

That's it for now. Maybe I can find a bit of time now and then to put more effort into this blog. For now, my Alton Brown / Good Eats blog and my Twitter feeds get all of the attention.

@altonbrownnews
@oneSAHDdude

Thoughts on Eating at DisneyWorld

2010-02-03T17:41:00.001-05:00

We recently returned from a few well deserved days at Disney World and this morning I was pondering the food selection available to Disney guests. My conclusion is that the food at Disney World is great.* <--Yes, there's an asterisk there. There needs to be an asterisk since the variety of items, prices, and availability truly confounds things. If you have time and money it is easy to eat healthy and try a variety of excellent dishes. On the other hand, if you're in the grab and go mode, like many guests there, it can be ~~a pain in the butt~~ tedious to provide your family with a good meal while touring the parks.

The Good

The dining plan is a great upgrade for resort guests if you have time to plan some of your meals. Reservations are highly recommended for most restaurants, especially if you will be eating during peak meal times. The dining plan will not only save you some money, but makes a wide variety of the finer foods accessible for those on tight , or even moderate, budgets. We ate at Boma, our resort restaurant, two nights and enjoyed the array of ~~Americanized~~ ~~bumbed down~~ slightly ethnic cuisine and variety of healthy foods, such as veggie dishes and fruit. Avoiding fast food can be difficult when traveling and this was a welcome deviation after two days on the road.
As concierge level guests at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, we had access to the private lounge. Not something everyone would be willing to pay extra for (not too bad in the off season), but we definitely got our money's worth in both convenience and food. Every morning we had our breakfast there and enjoyed the appetizers, African beer, and cordials later in the day when relaxing at the hotel. The lounge really came in handy for keeping a ~~unpredictable~~ picky toddler satisfied at a moments notice. We also enjoyed the counter service food at the Morocco pavilion. My wife is half Lebanese and being able to find some Arab ethnic food was a treat while away from home.

The Bad

While the dining plan made eating at some of the nicer restaurants affordable, we had to make reservations which impacted our ability to relax during the trip. Every night I had to plan around our scheduled dinner time. It's not so much an issue with singles or small groups, but makes family excusrions ~~frustrating~~ more difficult. Also, not all sit down restaurants at Disney are created equal. Some, like Boma, had a great variety and were worth the time and money, while others, like 1900 Park Fare, left a lot to be desired. I understand that they need to try and please everyone, but at those prices I expect a higher level of cuisine. The highlight of the trip for my daughter was the polka band at the German restaurant at EPCOT, though I wish they had a little more variety in their food choices.

The Ugly

The counter service eateries at Disney definitely are wanting, especially at the resorts. The first thing that is usually on every menu board is the bacon double cheeseburger. No, there isn't a plain ol' cheeseburger, just the extreme variety. There are a few exceptions, notably some of the ethnic locations at EPCOT, but the lion's share are not much more than fast food at twice the price. Disney puts in some effort to make salads and healthy sides available, but the main courses often resemble McDonald's combo meals and with little other options for dinner. Considering the ~~ransom~~ cost of sit down restaurants, $35 buffet at Boma, not many families can afford a readily available decent meal after plunking down some serious cash on the trip. Disney could definitely improve things with a partnership with an outside eatery, such as Subway or Taco Bell, to mix things up a bit. With as much effort as Disney goes through to make everything perfect, somehow the food service aspect confounds them.

The trick is to be prepared when you go to Disney. I recommend Deb's AllEars website (or one of the other great Disney travel sites out there) for the menu listings and reviews of Disney eateries, as well as a wealth of other planning information. If you go prepared there is a great variety of awesome food to be found, though without any preparation you may find yourself wondering whether you want chicken nuggets or a bacon double cheeseburger for the fifth meal in a row.

Finding Balance

2010-01-05T16:07:00.000-05:00

One aspect of my time as a stay at home parent has been finding balance in my daily life. Finding time for myself has been all but impossible without sacrificing something else; chiefly sleep. I attribute part of this to the fact that I also work from home for 26 hours each weekend, but what really has driven me to distraction is that I can never seem to get organized.

There are countless minor projects that impede me from getting organized and it appears that maybe I never will reach that elusive goal. My house is not messy, but there is clutter to eliminate. The basement is not a disaster, but I can only work on cleaning it while I'm not watching my toddler. Etcetera, etcetera.

The first big step I made towards finding balance was to realize that I might not do so for quite some time. I also realized that I cannot get all of my projects accomplished with any sort of expediency. I set out last summer to paint my kitchen, foyer, and living room. I only finished the kitchen; but I have to accept that as an accomplishment. Little by little I keep plucking away at things. My only regret right now is that I didn't get more done when my daughter was a tiny infant who slept all day. Approaching 2 years old now and I can barely get anything done!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T11:30:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone!

The Dungeon

2009-12-17T14:15:00.000-05:00

I just spent 45 minutes down int he basement moving things and assessing what needs to done. It's utterly amazing what can happen to a place in only six years. We never expected to live here more than a couple years so never paid any attention to the 1500 square feet of space below our feet. Now that we plan on staying put for at least 4-5 more years, it's time to get things organized, clean up, and turn that dusty dungeon into usable space.

At the minimum, the basement needs to be thoroughly cleaned and everything down there has to find a home. We don't actually have a lot in storage, and most of it is in boxes, but currently stuff is just strewn about. Besides looking like a dump, it is difficult to locate an item when you need to. The dust is horrendous! There is the initial layer of dust and debris left over from construction, then there is the layer of fine powder that has accumulated from the cat little boxes over the years. I already bought some new litter boxes with lids/doors to keep the dust problem under control and relocated the boxes under the stairs so they are out of the way. I need to find something to keep the cats from tacking any litter out, such as a piece of AstroTurf that can easily be cleaned.
Plan of action:
1) clear out an area
2) clean that area thoroughly
3) section off that area with drop cloths or tarps
4) reconfigure the area for use

For the more long term, I'm looking at what ways I can maximize the usable space without spending a lot of money. I don't plan on completely finishing the basement into a living space, but I'd like to make it at least look good and create different zones. Right now I'm thinking about storage and a shop area while keeping some areas aside for other uses, such as a weight room, play room, etc.

For now, just cleaning the first few areas will consume a lot of time since it's not something I can do with my toddler in tow. Speaking of....she just woke up from her nap and I have to run.

Cauliflower 'Cream' Soup. Yeah, it's healthy

2009-12-09T17:15:00.001-05:00

Just in time for the nasty winter weather I made some cauliflower soup. Since there's been discussion about Alton and weight loss, I guess this one can fall into the healthy category as well. It is a cream style soup but uses no cream, so it's really low fat and has lots of whatever good stuff is to be found in the veggies used. Also, it was be made vegetarian or have sausage added. I had one of the PBS stations on in the background while I was working the other weekend and noticed this dish on Sara Moulton's show and also on some vegetarian show too. It's a really easy soup to add your own touches to and the following is what I cobbled together.

The first thing on the list is cauliflower, the size of which will determine the rest of your volumes. I was surprised at home many recipes I found on the Net specified exactly how much of what you need when a head of cauliflower can vary greatly. The ingredient list is what I ended up using with a pretty large head of locally grown cauliflower. If you're picking one up from the grocery store, it's likely to be smaller and you can certainly make a smaller batch, just adjust the volumes accordingly. Secondly, as I mentioned, you can used sausage or leave it out for a vegetarian (or just lower fat) soup. And lastly, adding greens gives the final product a great texture and for this you can also use whatever piques your taste buds.

Ingredients:
1 head cauliflower (roughly chopped)

1-2 quarts chicken or veg. broth ( I used 2 quarts)

1/2 pound of sausage, chorizo/andouille/Italian*, etc. sliced (optional)
1 onion (roughly chopped)

1-2 Yukon or other waxy potato (peeled and roughly chopped)
Greens such as kale, spinach, mustard, etc. if desired

1. Get out your favorite soup pot and cook the sausage slices, then remove the slices for later use.
2. Sweat the onion, add some oil if not using sausage
3. Add the cauliflower, potato (you can reserve some florets to add later if you want a chunkier soup)

4. Add enough broth to cover the veggies and simmer for about 10 minutes until soft
5. Run the soup through a blender in batches or hit it with an immersion blender (much easier) until smooth
6. If adding extra veg. to your soup, such as cauliflower florets or heavy greens like kale*, add them now and simmer for a few minutes to soften. This is also a good time to add the sausage back in to the mix or keep on the side for serving time if you have picky eaters.

7. Add any extra seasonings to taste, such as salt & pepper, hot pepper flakes, lemon juice, hot sauce, nutmeg, etc.

* I used baby spinach for the texture, so I only added what I needed when reheating the soup since it will get soggy quickly. I used sweet fennel Italian sausage and it gave off a little too strong of a flavor after melding in the fridge overnight.

Enjoy! If you have any tips or personal variations please feel free to share!

Muppets Bohemian Rhapsody

2009-11-25T16:49:00.000-05:00

The Muppets perform Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody!

Smoking is bad for your computer

2009-11-24T22:23:00.000-05:00

Or at least so says Apple. According to this article, Apple has voided warranties for customers who smoke enough to leave residue inside their computers! Hmmmm...didn't see that one on the warranty card....

"Specifically, in at least two instances in different parts of the country, Apple has voided the warranty and refused to provide repair service on Macintosh computers exposed to environments where cigarette smoke has been present. Calling cigarette smoke residue (tar and whatnot) inside a computer a health risk and a "biohazard," in both cases Apple customers have been denied service despite having time left on a valid warranty."

Google's Chrome OS

2009-11-20T00:35:00.000-05:00

OK, do we really need yet another operating system out there? I was just reading this on the BBC News site:

"The free and open source system is initially aimed at low-cost netbooks and does away with many of the features of a traditional program. All applications are designed to run in a web browser and all the user's data is stored on Google's servers."

OK, stop right there. Google is going to store everyone's information? Sounds a little too invasive for most users.

Daily Vacation

2009-11-18T21:09:00.000-05:00

We took a spur of the moment day trip up to Frankenmuth for a big chicken lunch and some shopping. It's a cheap and fun getaway, highlighted by the fact that I can drive us all home by dinner time and still enjoy the evening. We counted today as Thanksgiving since the wife has to work next week and our 18mo will never know the difference. She was just happy to watch all the people at the restaurant and taste a bit of cranberry ice cream.
p.s. If the staff at the Pottery barn outlet are wondering why there are all sorts of size 5 shoe prints on the couches, just know that it provided 20 minutes of joy for a little girl :-)

Plants have Strong Family Bonds

2009-11-18T20:52:00.000-05:00

Well, it would seem that plants have close family ties and try to protect their kin. According to a new study by McMaster University, plants will try to crowd out other plants growing in the same location while exhbiting a non-competitive behavior towards plants of the same family. This could have some interesting uses for nurseries and gardeners in the future.

Lately Lame, but here's some entertainment

2009-11-13T21:48:00.000-05:00

Yes, this blog has become lame and under-appreciated by myself as of late. Why? Well, besides chasing my toddler around all day, I have been focusing most of my attention on my Good Eats blog and it's associated Twitter account. I'm hoping to turn this trend around soon, or at least combine the two blogs, or their posts, in some way. I guess I also have a fear of this becoming yet another mundane parenting blog, but I'll leave that to my Twitter account. For now I'll leave you with a video.

Some adventurous staffers at ThinkGeek tested out prepackaged cookie dough in the waffle iron.

Hot Cocoa Season

2009-10-01T12:27:00.000-04:00

Woke up this morning to frost covering the lawn and deck. Luckily, I stuffed some of my potted plants in the garage so they wouldn't get too cold. It's a little too early for this weather! I guess I'll have to break out the hot cocoa machine and check my stock of chocolate powder. Fresh marshmallows will be needed too.

Getting things in order

2009-09-28T22:48:00.000-04:00

I finished painting the kitchen today. Should have been a two day project, two weeks when you put in the toddler factor. Well, it took two months but at least I'm on a roll now. Time to move on to the living room and foyer. I'm seriously contemplating painting the 25 foot high walls myself, though a good bit of doubt keeps creeping into my head. Maybe I'll get some quotes on the job then compare that to the cost of a ladder. All i know is it needs to get done soon! The dusty and dark cave I call the basement is waiting for a winter cleanup and makeover!

Meltdowns

2009-08-23T23:50:00.000-04:00

My beloved toddler has been going through so many changes lately! Learning to walk, plenty of babbling, and sorting items. Then there's the not-so-fun new behaviors...meltdowns (teething pains maybe?), fussy eating, and throwing food. Ah, it's all in a days work for a parent, but that doesn't mean I'm not at the end of my rope! Daddy needs a vacation, or at least a day off. I love my little darling, but I need a few hours of peace and quiet. Then it's off to the toddler races again!

Summer

2009-07-30T23:39:00.000-04:00

Time for visits to the farm stands and festivals in small towns. It is here one can see the foundation of American life. Tomorrow we go to the Blueberry Festival where I hope to find myself a delicious pie baked by some local volunteers. I can only hope that by exposing my daughter to this type of community interaction and deep seeded culture that she will remember where she came from years later and it may offer her some perspective in whatever she does in her own life.

Rural Decay

2009-07-10T15:29:00.000-04:00

Loaded my daughter into the backpack and went for a hike today. Beautiful weather, 82 and a nice breeze, and quiet out there to boot. We wandered over to the park the township built as part of our little condo development and the two subdivisions going in behind. This land used to be an apple orchard not too long ago. Like so many of the orchards and farms in our area the price was just too good for farmers to pass up when real estate was booming a few years back. Now, the suburbanites are moving in and, with the state of the economy, there are swathes of leveled land with a stray McMansion or two. This area has always been on the fringe of suburbia; an historic village surrounded by agriculture dotted with a few subdivisions and strip malls. Now, however, development is starting to impact the landscape and population.

Anyhow, before I start ranting about people always in a hurry and their kids who can't pedal a bike......

On our walk today I ran into two depressing images in a row. First, as I was walking past the sign declaring that the park used to be a farm from the 1800s I noticed somebody had taken a large hammer or similar object and beat the tar out of it. It's not often you see a metal sign with holes pounded through. What goes through people's minds?

Right after this, I noticed a truck over at the little fenced in playground. Yes, Suburbanites feel the need to enclose a small playground int he middle of the 100 acre park. There's usually a minivan or two parked there with some moms chatting and kids running around. Today I looked over and noticed some guy sitting in his pickup, looking bored out of his mind, while his kid is in the compound playing by himself. "Dad! Dad, look!" I can hear him yelling from the top of the jungle gym. I felt bad for the kid. If my daughter was a few years older I would have stopped by and let her run around so the kid would have somebody to play with.

I walked on, a cloud over my head. After walking a for a bit, I stopped by a bench, fished my Little Bug out of her backpack, and let her crawl around in the grass. On the way back home I cut through the woods and past some fields and pointed out the wildflowers and birds. There's still a lot of nature out here for her to experience and that's why we stayed in this area. I try to make the most of our time while she's young so she will know what the world is like outside the hustle and bustle, so she knows what it means to be part of a community, and to know that she is loved by her parents in more ways than just expensive gifts. I want her to enjoy being a kid and to have something to look back on later in life.

Finding Time

2009-07-09T21:33:00.000-04:00

A major part of being a stay-at-home parent is finding time. First and foremost is making time available for your kids. After that, however, there are all sorts of tasks that you need to find time for. Currently, I've been trying to find time to get half the interior of my house painted. I already caved in and hired somebody to strip and stain my deck; took a chunk of my pride there. But hey, with a toddler always on the move I had to make cuts to my workload. And the painting? Well, I'm treating that as a long term project and doing small sections during naps and in the the late evening. In fact, over the last two days I managed to paint two walls, assemble some furniture, and rearrange the whole living room! Whew!

What else eats away at my time? Mostly the menial tasks of keeping a household from imploding. Grocery shopping, cooking, dishes, floors, bathrooms, garbage, blah, blah, blah. But I've run into a problem with all this. The quality time I need with my wife had been slipping. I realized this when we were both becoming cranky with each other and in general. I had to make some changes, try to better organize my time, and make it a point to plan family outings when my wife is off work. So far it has been a huge success. We both have a lot of stress riding on our lives and the only way to let that go is to spend some fun time as a family.

Next week there's already an art fair on the schedule and I even have a two day outing with the guys! My first time off from being a parent in over 14 months!

Delayed

2009-07-02T12:08:00.000-04:00

I had been excited for today for a few weeks now. My parents are in town and said they would babysit the little one so my wife and I could actually escape for a day to ourselves. Well, that went out the door this morning since we had no water pressure. There was a little notice about a major pipeline valve repair and mentioned boiling our water. They didn't mention that we could lose our water. And when we did, none of the news agencies or local governments bothered to give any updates. What the heck? Are they all too busy worrying about the dead Mr. Jackson to let tens of thousands of locals know what the heck is going on with their water supply?

The water finally started to trickle again at nearly noon and, luckily, my parents have one more extra day to spare in their vacation to let us enjoy a few hours of freedom from our toddler.

What the heck?

2009-06-26T01:01:00.000-04:00

OK, this is the most bizarre thing I've seen on the internet.

Alarrrmmmm!!!!!!

2009-06-24T12:19:00.000-04:00

Well, the Little Bug discovered the test button on the carbon monoxide detector this morning and gave it a push, which led to a nice crying fit. I figured she would manage to get past the trash bin and floor lamp and fidn that little button one of these days. At least that seemed to move up her morning naptime today.

Perfect time to get the new kiddie pool out! It's heading towards 90 for the first time today. When I lived in SC I got used to the heat and you sort of work your schedule around the really hot days. But back up here, where it's been steady around 70 for the past month of so, it feels much hotter and your body forgets how to deal with the heat. So, popsicles and the kiddie pool will be my salvation today. I need to make a fresh batch of sun tea for the evening too. Ah summer! We wait all winter to get out of the house and then everybody runs inside from the heat :-)

Summer Time

2009-06-22T14:40:00.000-04:00

Ah, summer weather is finally here. Watching my daughter explore out on the grass and splash in her little pool has reminded me of how much fun the summer season is for a kid. She may only see it as a chance to explore her surroundings outside, but in a few years she will know the joy of the last day of school and the months of freedom before starting the next grade.

I'm also enjoying some of the pleasures of summer that had fallen to the wayside while working and going to college. The charcoal grill has returned to my deck and the sun tea jar has been out for the last few weeks. Evenings playing with my daughter while listening to, or watching, the Tigers play ball brings back the days spent with my grandfather when I was young. While I miss the summers past, I look forward to spending summers with my daughter and all the fun that comes with the season.

Muggy Day

2009-05-27T18:41:00.000-04:00

It felt like the South today. The hot and humid South I remember from living in Charleston; execpt there was no sea breeze to keep it under control. I took the Little Bug out for a short hike; didn't want to keep her out there too long. Plus, there were thunderstorms coming which kept my path close to home. It felt good to be out there, though I couldn't last all day in that damp heat.

After a cool lunch indoors she settled down for a nap and I had a chance to get yet another wall painted. It is going to take me forever to get the house painted a the rate I'm going!

Holiday Moment

2009-05-25T13:17:00.000-04:00

Ahhhhh.... The Little Bug is alseep. It's a cool 70 degrees outside with a light breeze. The sun tea jar has been set out on the deck. My little veggie and herb pots have been watered. I even got to take the Mustang out for a quick spin this morning. Now I'm going to flop down on the couch and enjoy a few peaceful moments for myself on this fine holiday.

That is, until the Little Bug wakes up from her nap and demands my full attention. But until then, I can relax.

SAHD Sighting

2009-05-11T12:48:00.000-04:00

Now that Spring has arrived and people are emerging from hibernation; I've been watching to see how many kids are in the new subdivision behind our house. Quite a few from what i've seen so far! Today I had my Little Bug out for a ride in the stroller and ran across what may be another SAHD with a toddler! I didn't get a chance to chat with him, but just said 'hi' and kept an eye on which direction he was going. Turns out they live in the first house at the close end of the sub. There's also another dad with a baby and a toddler that I see every night walking just before dusk. it will be a little trickier to run into him since that's usually my wind down time. Aside from those two, I've seen at least half a dozen moms with strollers. looks liek there was a little baby boom last year!

I've become addicted to charcoal grilling once again! Since I've been using my gas grill the past two years I never realized how much more 'fun' it is to grill with charcoal. I don't know, maybe there's a small sense of accomplishment with starting the fire and the satisfaction that it takes longer to set up and cook everything. I should start filming my own Survivorman series on the deck. BBQ was the main reason for pulling out th eol' Weber kettle, but this is also an opportunity to add some healthy cooking to my menu. Thursday I made some great marinated chicken and Saturday was pork chop night. Kabobs sound like a good option later this week.

The Little Bug stood up on her own for the first time yesterday. Well, at least the wife saw her do it. She also figured out how to get over the barrier I had on the stairs to the loft, so now I need to come up with a better barricade. We let her crawl up a few times and made sure she knows how to get back down just in case. Always and adventure!

Grilling Season brings

2009-05-01T14:32:00.000-04:00

I trundled the Weber out on Monday. I figure with being home all day I'll finally have time to do some 'real' grillign with charcoal. I also want to get into BBQ this summer. First step: get back into the art of temperature control with charcoal. The gas grill is easy; turn the knob, hit the button, adjust the flame once it heats up. No worries. Charcoal is an artform and one that has escaped me. My dear Weber kettle has been collecting dust in the garage for the past three years.

So, Monday I take the grill out and it's windy as heck. I have an electrical tower grid passing behind my house lined up perfectly with the prevailing wind, so it's always amplified. The next three days a combination of rain and high winds. Today, sunshine and windy, but it didn't stop me this time. It took four tries to get the small amount of charcoal started, but eventually it ashed over. I hooke dup my probe thermometer and dropped the end down one of the vents. After adding a few briquettes to increase the temperature I found out something; the temp probe only reads up to 210! At least I have a pretty good idea of how much charcoal to start with now. I'll just have to pick up a spare grill thermometer at the store next week.

To celebrate the rise of the charcoal gods I'm going to grill up some burgers tonight.

The Breakfast Mess Club

2009-05-01T10:48:00.000-04:00

There's scrambled eggs on my shirt, on the floor, and, not too long ago, all over my daughter's head. Yes, she's learning to feed herself. This morning I told her it was going to be harder on me than her; at which i think she smirked. We've been working on getting her to use a cup for about a month now and it hasn't progressed very far; she still dumps the whole thing before it reaches her lips. Self-feeding has gone much better. She picked up the tray-hand-mouth skill quickly and loves doing it. However, there are those times when it becomes more fun to play with the food than to eat and that's usually when the meal ends suddenly. This morning's meal, which ended with scrambled eggs, end with food smeared in her hair and blown out onto my shirt. It surprises me how well I can cope with this on a day to day basis.

Bathtime!

The Little Bug Turns One

2009-04-30T13:09:00.000-04:00

One year old. It's not just a huge milestone for my Little Bug but for myself. I never imagined my life how it is now, but I would never give it up either. So much happens in a child's first year that it is simply mind boggling! Eating, sleeping, pooping, growing, learning new things every day.... I have been blessed with the opportunity to be a part of it all.

Now that we are finally getting a bit more settled into a routine, I'm hoping to share more of our lives with you all. To mark the event I've started Tweeting. The latest updates are in the sidebar, or you can find us at our own Twitter page.

You've come a long way baby

2009-03-19T15:11:00.000-04:00

At 10 months I already find myself thinking, "Where has the time gone?!" Especially the past month, which has been very busy. An overnight vacation, new outdoor activities, a cold, and lots of new skills! I find some days that I forget to feed myself!

With what I call the good part of the year approaching, we decided to take a quick vacation so we'll be prepared for the real thing. Frankenmuth is only 45 minutes away and offers shopping, plenty of hotels, and (my favorite) family style chicken dinners. We chose a hotel I've been to before, which has free breakfast and a pool but isn't too crowed this time of year. Nearly everything went well. Of all the activities, our daughter enjoyed eating at Zehnder's the most! It was the first time she's been in a large restaurant and absolutely loved watching all the people. Come to think of it, she had never eaten at a restaurant before. I always cook at home, so we really don't get out that much. The only problem we had was at night. She fell asleep in the hotel crib, but woke up screaming after half an hour. I ended up strapping her into the carseat and she slept through the night. Lessons learned on the trip: we can pack a lot less, plan meal times a little better, and maybe bring the bumper and sheets from her own crib so she feels at home.

Spring is coming in fits and starts, so we have finally been able to take a few stroller rides and a short hike. I typically get a touch of the winter blahs, but this year has been the winter frustration. My daughter easily gets bored of being cooped up in the house with me all the time and gets really crabby. I try to take her out shopping and such, but we live in a semi-rural area so there is only so much to do. Detroit also sucks for museum-type activities. Everything is spread out over a huge area, so it's not an easy or quick drive, and we live on the edge. However, once the weather warms there are all sorts of activities in our neck of the woods. There is a walking path that passes behind our house which leads to a town park with a little playground, but better yet is the huge nature preserve a 1/2 mile away that offers a lake and extensive nature trails. There are also lots of farms and orchards for her to explore this year, which I'm really looking forward too.

I think the hardest part of parenting for me lately has been the constantly changing set of skills my daughter has been developing; namely fast crawling and the ability to tear down or move barriers. My project for next week is going to installing a pair of gates and a pet door so the cats can get downstairs and the baby can't. My daughter's ~~obsession~~ need to explore has really begun to hinder my attempts to get chores done around the house. Even fixing something to eat for myself has become difficult. In the rare event I do get to sit down and eat I have to barricade myself on the couch with the coffee table just to keep those busy little hands away from my food! Actually, I'm in the same position with my laptop right now :-)

My other challege for the week is starting some painting projects. I painted part of the kitchen the other night to see if I liked the color. Looks good, but painting in artifical light is not the way to go. I'll have to try to arrange my projects around my wife's schedule next week and see how that goes.

Childhood Memories

2009-03-05T21:39:00.000-05:00

I had to get a minor surgery performed today, so my grandparents watched my 10mo for an hour or so. When I got back she was half asleep in the crook of my grandfather's arm. As I watched them in the rocking chair, the scene immediately sent me back 30 years in time. I could remember the feel of the classic 1970s mustard-yellow robe, the scent of Old Spice, and watching episodes of the Love Boat and/or Fantasy Island.

It was the first time in a while that something has jarred my memmory so hard. I can't wait to see what memories come flooding back when we take my daughter out to vacation in Ludington, MI as my grandparents did for so many summers in my younger days.

No Reason

2009-03-05T02:02:00.000-05:00

One of the greatest challanges I have faced so far with raising a baby is that there is no way to reason with them. I can deal with the messy diapers, the near-constant feedings, the daily nap time guessing game; but some days I'm at my wit's end trying to communicate with my 10mo daughter. It seems that any time I try to get her to stop doing something, like playing in the cat food bowl or attempting to pry off an electrical outlet cover, she becomes even more ~~obsessed~~ focused on the task. She definitely has a knack for finding the one item in a room that shouldn't be played with and making that her goal.

Days like today require a time out for me to regain my composure and to get my daughter's mind to wander to yet another project. Instead of getting overly frustrated, which doesn't help anything, we head to another room and start fresh. If I'm lucky, I can convince my Little Roo that she wants to take a short nap in her swing and daddy and lay down on the futon and clear his head. At least Spring is right around the corner and soon it will be warm enough to get out of the house for a walk every day!

Update soon

2009-03-01T23:59:00.000-05:00

We had our first vacation this week. Lots of fun and I'm exhausted. I'll post some updates this week. Really, I mean it! Er, as soon as i find time....

Dreaming of Summer

2009-01-30T00:49:00.001-05:00

The Winter Blahs are lasting too long this year. I really need to see some greenery soon!

Cookie Monster

2009-01-25T14:27:00.000-05:00

I'm working, the Beeb is right behind me in her pen wailing because she can't explore the few leftover square feet of the room that is not within her little jail. I give her a teething biscuit to munch on or play with as she seems fit and that keeps her occupied while I get some work accomplished. I can hear every little suck/slurp/belch, but am not ready for what I see. I turn around to find my daughter covered from head to toe in sticky biscuit crumbs! Half the biscuit is in the baby, half the biscuit is on the baby! Oh Good Lord! What am I going to do now? Well, I guess I'll just finish the next three hours of work since she doesn't seem to mind looking like an empty pie pan.

After a good meal and a nap, there's going to be some serious bath time in store for the Beeb! If it wasn't 10 degrees outside the garden hose may have been a possibility.

My Review of Superyard XT

2009-01-22T15:28:00.001-05:00

Originally submitted at Toys R Us

The Gate-Child 26" High Superyard XT opens easily, so you can have access to your child. It is totally portable with a carrying strap included, so you get maximum convenience along with safety and durability. The weather-resistant Superyard can be used just about anywhere outside, and it'...

Versatile

By One SAHD Dude from Michigan on 1/22/2009

Pros: Compact, Easy to Clean, Versatile, Easy to Assemble

Best Uses: Playtime, Infants, Toddlers, Naptime

Describe Yourself: First Time Parent

This set of gates is easy to use and much more versatile than using fixed gates to block off sections of your house. They can be moved around, used in oddly shaped areas, or to set up a playpen.

(legalese)

Grocery Lesson Learned

2009-01-22T13:43:00.000-05:00

I've long been a master at saving money at the grocery store. My skills came into being during college when ramen noodles, hot dogs, and orange drink were considered a meal. This past year, however, I've begun to spend more. The reason? There is finally a good market nearby (relatively) where I can buy good produce, seafood, and meat. As long as I'm getting quality food for my family I don't mind the extra money. Though I still watch the sales and use my coupons when I stock up at the big box store, I learned a different lesson today.

While at the seafood counter I decided to pick up a treat for myself. Shrimp! It's fair to say that shrimp is my favorite food and I consider it to be a separate food group. I saw they had some raw shell-on shrimp for only $5.99/lb today, which is hard to come by in the great white north. I asked for a pound and a half since it was such a good price and was on my way. When I got home and looked at the bill I was shocked: $18.10 for shrimp! What?! I could swear I saw him grab the right shrimp, did he chrage me the wrong price? No, wrong shrimp; raw but peeled and deveined at $11.99/lb! Damn! So much for having a little treat. I guess I'll whip up a cream suace and make a pasta dinner with my shrimp for that price. I guess I should ahve learned to check my packages after I got way overcharged for something I bought at the deli a few months back. That's what happens when you're too busy making sure your baby isn't grabbing things off the shelves or tossing her bunny out of the cart :-)

Life goes on; I'm over it already. In a former life I would have been pissed off, but one thing parenthood has taught me is that there is so much more to enjoy in life when you don't let the few shitty moments keep you down.

Getting Out for Sanity's Sake

2009-01-21T13:47:00.000-05:00

Getting out of the house does wonders for my mood these days. I've always been one to get a bit of the winter blahs, but this year it has been especially hard. Most winters I could force myself to bundle up and get out for a hike in the cold on a sunny day, but this year has been much colder than normal and I have a baby to keep warm.

So, to overcome my depression and laziness I've had to come up with alternate ideas for getting out of the house. Besides, my Little Roo has figured out how to stand up and likes to look out the window now. Last week, when my wife was off, we took a family trip acorss town to the Ikea store. Unforatunately, there was a light duting of snow which, combined with the near zero temps, turned traffic into a nightmare and we spent two hours getting home. The trip was worth it though since we spent several hours in Ikea and ate lunch there. My daughter was wide-eyed gazing at, and trying to grab, everything around her. I wish we had more kid-friendly museums in our area.

Today was another escape for me. One of my cats gets a daily medication and I decided to drive out to the place where they make his medication instead of having it shipped. The pharmacy that makes the compund is even farther out in the country, so it was a pleasant drive on a perfectly brilliant day. It did me good to get out of the house earlier and helped get my day going. My daughter's nap times/lengths have been out of whack the past couple of days, so I timed the trip to coincide with a good car nap.

Tomorrow: grocery shopping! Always a good excuse to escape the confines of home.

Security Zone

2009-01-20T20:34:00.000-05:00

With progress comes new challenges. Not only has my Little One learned to crawl and sit up over the past weeks, she can now pull up and stand for long periods of time. I didn't think that was coming so quick. She's only a few steps from walking now (bad pun, I know). Sadly, my own progress in securing the house has not moved as rapidly.

After being sick for a week and then having too much going on last week, I've fallen behind in my tasks. I did finally figure out where to strategically place some baby gates so that I don't have to worry about any tumbles down stairs or attempts to crawl upstairs while still allowing the cats to roam free. Now all I need to do is get out and buy the gates. The living room, her main place of play, is already baby safe (I'm not as paranoid as some) and the kitchen is almost there. The main obstacle to overcome now is revamping her bedroom.

What should have been a simple task is now going to be a chore. I had to scramble to get my daughter's room finished (painting, furniture assembled, etc.) since she came six weeks early and I had only just started that project. What has happened since then is an accumulation of all sorts of items into her room that now need new homes. I need to switch furniture between her bedroom and the upstairs office. As a project not too difficult, but nearly impossible with an 8 month old who can't decide whether to nap or not or for how long. I'd pull out my hair, but I'm already running low in that department :-)

Not Diggin' the Avocado

2009-01-19T20:10:00.000-05:00

Well, there are only two things on the short list of what my daughter won't eat. The first was green beans, though I may give those a second test. The second discovery came today when I gave her some avocado. She just screwed up her face and mushed it around a bit, then let it drool out. She gave me a look of disgust as if to say, "What the heck did you feed me that for?!" Luckily, I had some of her favorite mashed peas at the ready.

Progress in Leaps and Bounds (and a few tumbles)

2009-01-11T12:12:00.000-05:00

The past two weeks have been extraordinary for my little 8mo! Not only did she learn to crawl and sit up, but she mastered both skills within days and is now cruising all over the house. "Whoa there!," I shout across the living room every five minutes while trying to make lunch. This week's project will definitely be tackling the more advanced babyproofing tasks. I've already cleared away a lot of things, covered the outlets, put latches on the cabinets; but she is not only cruising around but trying to grab and eat everything her sticky little hands can get hold of.

One skill at a time; that's what I have read. A few weeks ago my daughter relieve us by finally starting to babble in coherent consonant and vowel sounds and seemed to have given up on the squealing. Well, since she's been busy crawling and sitting up the talking has nearly stopped. We'll have to wait and see what happens next. Babies are so baffling sometimes.

SAHD Adjustment Period: World's longest blog post

2009-01-09T21:06:00.000-05:00

I've never been one to make a New Year's resolution, but this year it was a day when I had time to stop, look back, and thiunk about my success or failure as a stay at home parent. I had a well-deserved day out with the guys after being cooped up int he house for waaay too long and it really helped clear my mind. Surprisingly, even though I was out having fun with my friends there was time for me to reflect on my life. I guess that's what happens when you are constantly watching a child.

Lately I've been having a hard time getting organized, even more than previosuly, and have been downright tired. To top it off last week my daughter and I came down with a head cold which meant less sleep than usual. Getting away from my family for a single day let me step back and really look at how I've been doing and the situation as a whole. My first thought was: 'How can I be so tired? I hardly get anything done.' Realizing that was the first key. I've never been a really organized person, but I still managed to get everything done. I spent years in college earning my masters degree while always working at least part-time and sometimes even having two jobs on the side. So why am I having so much trouble now? Then it dawned on me: lack of adjustment.

In business, sports, etc. the key to success is staying on top of the game. This is where I have failed as an at home parent. At first I was surprised at how slow babies develop and lately I can't believe how quickly they pick up the pace! Despite all the reading and TV shows, I was unprepared for this progression. It hasn't been a total failure though; I've managed to keep up with everything that is important for my daughter's development and well-being. The failure has been in maintaining myself and my household. I haven't stayed on top of the game.

Where to go from here? It's always said that realizing you have a problem is the first step to recovery. While I don't know if this qualifies as a 'problem,' the situation definitely needs improvement before I fall apart mentally. I need to take my daughter out more often to see the world since she is obviously getting bored and wants to explore everything and I need to see something other than my livingroom. I need to make plans to do things as a family when my wife is off of work to keep us all on the same page and, more importantly, enjoy life as a family. That's why we decided to have kids for in the first place!

Small accomplishments may help my mood. Being mostly out of the workforce, coupled with not being able to get projects finished around the house, has really been eating into my self worth. I still work weekends, but I work from home on the weekends so there isn't even any communication with my coworkers. Work itself is becoming more and more difficult since my daughter is now in the exploring phase and I have to constantly keep an eye on her or put her in the pen which often just makes her mad. Two solutions come to mind for this situation.

Firstly, I need to break my projects down into manageable chunks so I can actually finish things in my limited free time. I know taking care of a baby is supposed to be rewarding in itself, but there aren't the typical tangible results you get from completing a project or finishing work at the end of the day and heading home. It's a constant process and I rarely have a moment where I feel like I've 'completed' a task.

The second major process is to reevaluate my working situation. Currently, I work two 14 hour days, Saturday and Sunday. From 8-5 both days I'm 'actively' working as I would be in the office, except that I'm also trying to take care of my daughter. My wife is off every other week, so that gives me a break, but the weeks she is not home are killing my productivity and, more importantly, becoming increasingly frustrating to me as my 8mo requires more and more attention. Now, my employer should expect this since I was going to leave work to be a SAHD, but they got a contract that required weekend coverage for the client I was working with and it benefitted both of us to have me stay on weekends. The rest of my coverage hours I'm only on call, but this still means I'm tied to my Blackberry or laptop since reports come in every hour and the client could require my services at any time. I guess at this point there are two things to consider. One, my yearly review is coming up next month and it would be a good time to sit down with my boss and discuss my ever changing limitations just to keep things clear. Secondly, and this is something I've already been doing, is to really keep track of my family budget so that when the next child comes along (hopefully in about a year or so) I will be able to retire or just provide some on-call coverage since there is no way I will be able to watch two babies and get anything accomplished work-wise.

I really needed ot get that off my chest. Thanks to anybody who bothered to read any or all of this post! And thanks, as always, to my new friends at the At Home Dad and Dad Stays Home forums for advice, chatting, and good humor!

New Year's Guilt

2009-01-06T12:18:00.000-05:00

The New Year started off with me feeling even more motivated than usual now that I can look forward to the future with my daughter. However, within a day I came down with a massive head cold and got my first taste of trying to chase a crawler around while having no energy at all. I had it somewhat easy though. The first two days ran into my work-from-home time but my wife was home and that made it bearable. What happened last night really laid in the guilt.

4:00 AM. Four o'clock in the morning; isn't that when everything you don't want to happen happens anyway? I wake up to whining, but it's not the normal all out crying or 'I'm just upset for some unknown reason' whining. It's a little bit here and there. I keep dragging myself out of bed, trying to figure out the problem. Diaper? Hungry? Gas? No, no, and no. I settle for the teething answer since that has beena big issue the past few days and give her some Tylenol and she finally drifts off to sleep over an hour later. I crash a half hour later once I'm sure she's finally asleeep.

8:30AM Wife gets home from work and everybody wakes up. Usually I'm already up and about the house by this time, but I'm still reeling from my cold and having my sleep cut in half last night. My daughter, the little ray of sunshine that I see peering out of the crib every morning isn't looking so enthusiastic. Upon closer instpection I see the runny nose. Oh God! I did it! I gave her my cold! There's a load of guilt to deal with; right after I figure out how to keep her as comfortable and healthy as possible.

Saving Money for At Home Parents: Electricity Audit in progress

2008-12-22T14:04:00.000-05:00

Pinching pennies is a way of life for many at home parents, whether it be cutting coupons, looking for sales, or buying in bulk. One method for saving a few bucks, especially for those of us in northern climates, is to improve the insulation in your home to increase efficiency. I made this my pet project last winter and with some time and a little money at Home Depot I managed to make some improvements. Luckily, I own a newer home and there weren't too many problems to fix, but this can make a huge difference for older homes. Being that saving money, particularly in this economy, is so important to many of use I decided to write a few tips and track some of the cost cutting projects I'm working on this winter.

My current project is tracking electricity usage in my home so I can get a handle on how much we are using and where improvements can be made. This all started when I saw a product in my This Old House magazine last week. It is basically a switch you plug an appliance into then plug into the outlet. The theory is that you flip the switch off when not using the appliance so it does leach electricity. At $5 each, I wondered how much of an electricity vampire certain items really were and if it was worth five bucks (and whatever shipping) or if this is just another 'green' gimmick. I usually trust the guys at ToH, but this one had me wondering how long it would take a toaster oven to leach enough juice to make up for the investment.

To get an accurate measure of what appliances use how much electricity I picked up a handy meter as my Christmas gift. The Kill A Watt meter from P3 International measures the voltage and wattage used by an item and tracks the amount used. The price you pay your local utility per KWH can be entered and it the Kill A Watt meter will track the cost and project for day/week/month/year for usage. My first test subject was the Honeywell oil-filled electric radiator I picked up at Target.

Our bedroom has always been cold in the winter for two reasons; there is a large bay window and onyll one heater duct to feed the room. Last year I started cranking down the thermostat to 60 at night since I was basically paying to heat the rest of the house and not the room I where I was sleeping. Just doing that I saved a good amount off my gas bill. Now my 8 month old daughter sleeps in her crib in the bedroom; I now drop the thermostat temp but plug in the radiator to heat only the bedroom. The question is: am I still saving any money. To find out, I ran the radiator for a few nights plugged into the Kill A Watt meter

Radiator Electricity usage:
Radiator set to 68 degrees, house thermostat set to 60, approx 15 degrees outside, radiator run for 8-10 hours.
Average 8 cents per hour
Average 80 - 90 cents per night (8-9KWH per night)

So, now I know I'm spending about $25 per month to run the radiator. Now I need to find out how much I'm saving off my gas bill by dropping the temperature so low during the night. I would imagine I'm still saving a few dollars overall.

Next test subjects: Electricity Vampires.

Christmas Locally

2008-12-18T00:30:00.000-05:00

OK, so our economy is in a rut right now. I know this better than many because I live near Detroit and we all feel the ups and downs around here; no matter what our employ. This is by far the deepest rut I've seen around here. I'm lucky in that my family is still doing well financially and I can enjoy being a stay at home parent to the utmost. However, I still pay attention to what's going on around me and try to be prepared. This winter I've been putting in some extra effort to make an inpact for both my family and community.

What can I do for my semi-rural community? Well, I already make a point to drop change in the tins for the local Lions and whatver other fund raisers come up. I also make a habit of doing my shopping locally. This year it struck me that I typically do most of my Christmas shopping online and that is a significant chunk of change I could divert back home. So far I've managed to spend nearly all of my Christmas money in local shops and the gifts that I have bought online I bought from companies that produce items in the State of Michigan. My favorite place to order holidays gift boxes to send across the country is the Cherry Republic near Traverse City. Besides being a local company, they put in that extra effort that makes you feel good about returning again and again. Did I spend more than I would have at Walmart with all of the gimme-crazy holiday shoppers? Certainly. But at least I took the time to think about the people I was buying gifts for, chose something I knew they would appreciate, and helped keep some of my neighbors in business at the same time.

Iraqi Journalist Throws Shoes at President Bush during News Conference

2008-12-14T14:36:00.000-05:00

According to the BBC, an Iraqi journalist shouted "this is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog" and threw his shoes at President George Bush during a news conference. Sounds like the Iraqi people view the Republican defeat in November's election as a significant change in regime; just as they beat Saddam's statues with their shoes (a regional form of insult) after his downfall.

Why the Survival of the Big Three is Important to the American Economy

2008-12-12T11:58:00.000-05:00

There has been a lot of opposition to the Federal Government lending GM, Chrysler, and possibly Ford, money to keep afloat during the recession. While there are definitely problems within the structure and management of these companies that needs to be resolved, there are also a myriad of other factors to consider. What the Republican senators who oppose this bailout so strongly fail to realize is that the failure of any one of these companies doesn't just mean they go out of business; it means that millions of people across the country are affected. It also means more strain on the financial and housing markets, city and state budgets will be impacted, and the GDP and trade gaps will both take a hit as well as eliminating a large chunk of American industrial capacity. But first let's look at how the auto companies arrived in the current state.

My father, a long time GM designer who was laid off a few years back, recently had an article spread around deriding the inefficiency of GM's internal workings and the perceived greed of the executives and union workers. He mentions that no matter how hard you worked, management didn't seem to notice, how working within cost cutting measures prevented them from making the best vehicles possible, and how management was deaf to employee suggestions. Is this a problem? Sure as Hell it is, but it also paints a picture similar to many large corporations and the difficulty forming cohesive work flow between labor, white collar, and management. So far only Ford seems to have overcome many of these hurdles and is regaining a competitive edge in the auto market. General Motors, and even more so Chrysler, have a long and difficult road ahead if they are going to make it in the future market. If this was all that needed to be done the opposition in the House and Senate would be justified, but there are other factors severely hampering any turn around plan.

The current automotive market has been hit hard by both the tightened credit restrictions and the overall economic recession. It's not just the Big Three that are hurting, but solid sales leaders like Toyota and Honda are feeling the pain. Sales figures comparing November 2007 to November 2008 tell a much clearer story. Ford down 31%, GM down 41%, and Chrysler sales have fallen 47%. But what about the others? Toyota, often perceived as the most reliable car company, was down 34%; Honda down 32%, and hard hit Nissan fell 42%. Even Hyundai, known for some of the most affordable cars ont he market fell 39%. It's obvious that this isn't just a problem created by unions and Big Three management; this is a market wide reccession and no matter how well a company is functioning it will be difficult to weather losing 30% or more of sales revenue. In light of this situation, the government needs ot take a deeper look into why a bridge loan, or even an infusion, makes sense for the overall economy. They really need to step back, lose the anti-union rhetoric and lack of product knowledge, and look at the big picture of what the failure of any one of these companies would do to the economy.

Worst case scenario would be for one of the Big Three, or even one of their Japanese counterparts who have extensive manufacturing, research, and engineering facilities in the US, to file for bankruptcy and be liquidated. Though some think this is what the auto companies deserve, let's take a look a tthe impact of such a failure and use General Motors as an example. First the company's assets could be liquidated. Being there is not a market for many of these facilitiesd this increase the strain on the banking and real estate markets. Second, and more importantly, thousands of workers at factories, design and research centers, testing facilities, and dealerships will be out of work. From there the impact spreads.

After the collapse of a large auto company, suppliers who design and build parts for the vehicles will have to cope with losing huge contracts. Some will also collapse while others, who supply domestic and foreign manufacturers will be put under strain and be forced to make some cuts, layoffs, and increase other product pricing which hits all of the other auto makers. Transporation companies who haul hundreds of thousands of vehicles across the country will be impacted and will the lower tier manufacturers and raw material suppliers.

Once factories, dealerships, and offices close it will impact the local city and state governments as they lose badly needed tax dollars and face the increased cost of providing services for the unemployed. At best there will be minimal impact; at worst towns centered around large scale automotive operations would cease to exist as a community. In in minimally impacted communities there will have to be cuts which typically means more laid off workers.

And, as we have seen this past year, the economic downturn trickles into every segment of industry from large retailers where shopping has been curtailed to the local cafes where people have stopped eating lunch. Am I overemphasizing to make a point? No, look around and see what is already happening. Massive layoffs are already in process around the nation, the cost of living is increasing faster than usual, and local governments are already stretched. A large automotive failure will only accelerate the current crisis. And this is not just affecting the Midwest industrial centers; there are foreign and domestic auto manufacturing plants scattered across the country, there are research and design offices from Michigan to North Carolina, to Alabama, to California' and there are even companies that supply everything from paperclips to high tech software, computers, and robotics. All will feel the pinch even more than now.

So we have a choice. Do we sit around and bitch about archaic union practices, management inefficiency, and who makes the greenest products or do we keep the entire industry alive and weather the current economic crisis? Are there problems to be addressed within the industry? Yes, but that is something that is going to take a while to fix, especially in this economy.

Not so SAHD Day

2008-12-09T23:41:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I've felt uncomfortable about being a SAHD. I used to take notice of how people, especially mothers, looked at me or talked to me when I would be out and about with my newborn daughter. Now, after seven months on the job, these things rarely cross my mind. Sure, I still notice the odd looks I get from people, but I could really care less. I've realized that there are a lot more people who accept what I'm doing as being in the best interest for my daughter. Today, however, struck a different chord. I wasn't uncomfortable; just a bit annoyed.

The first incident was at the market. I'm usually in there once or twice a week to pick up things for lunches and whatever meals I need to make (when I have time). I'm at the deli counter when some old codger strikes up a conversation with me while waiting. makes a few faces at the baby, she smiles, he tells me that his youngest is expecting her first baby at 35 years old. I tell him this is our first at 34. Then, out of nowhere, he asks me why I'm not working. I wasn't quite sure how to take that one since we are near Detroit afterall. I explained that my wife has a much better job. Then he tells me that I'm blessed to have a boy since he ended up with three girls. Not sure how he thought the cute little baby dressed up in pink and yellow with a big pink bib was a boy. Luckily, before I could break the news that both of our family lines were dying out due to an abundance of girls, my stack of lunch meat was ready and I escaped. Of course I wouldn't expect much different from a guy in his 70s or so. The more peculiar incident occurred later in the day.

After packing away groceries for the week and scarfing down some cold pizza as I few my daughter, we packed up into the wagon and headed to the local auto parts store for some winter wiper blades. On a normal trip in there I find the guys joking around, very friendly, ready for a quick joke, etc. Today I threw them for a loop. Now, I think the site of the Flex with antlers and a big red nose fastened to the Ford oval may have taken them by surprise, but I'm sure they've seen plenty of crazy vehicles around. When I walked in there with a car seat hung under my arm they were stunned into silence! I can't tell if they had written me off as some lunatic for associating with a baby or they just didn't know how to behave in front of a child. It was truly bizarre. I'd hate to tell them how much fun they are missing!

Winter Wonderland

2008-11-16T21:08:00.000-05:00

Well, our first real snow has arrived. Just a dusting on the lawn right now, but more to come overnight. 50 miles away at my buddy's house there is nearly three inches. Tomorrow I'll have to make a little snowball for my daughter to check out; her first snow. We'll have to see how she takes it. I'm not one for cold weather myself, but that blanket of white covering the fields out back sure is pretty. If the sun makes an appearance i'll have to get the camera out.

Carpet Cleaning

2008-11-13T21:20:00.000-05:00

A few weeks weeks after having our carpets professionally cleaned I have noticed a considerable amount of fine dirt coming up each time I vacuum. I was a bit leery of how clean it was after watching the cleaners. I won't mention the name, but let's just say they use a 'dry' method of cleaning. My first thought after they left was, "OK, so they sprayed chemicals on my carpet and then went over it with a giant polisher. Where is all the dirt now?" I expected a lot of dirt to come up with the first vacuuming, but it is still coming up after about ten runs. This wasn't what I expected and decided to go another route.

My daughter is now just over six months old and loves to roll around across the living room floor and before long will be crawling. Of course I'm concerned about how clean that floor is and, to top it off, we have four cats so i spend a good deal of time vacuuming now. In light of the amount of dirt left after I paid to have the carpets cleaned I did some research and went out and bought a Bissell ProHeat 2x Select deep cleaner. After cleaning the main part of the living room today I'm very impressed. Not only did it pick up a lot of dirt, but it picked up stuff a thorough vacuuming did not. I guess it's time for a better vacuum too!

This is the dirty water from one round on the 'normal' cleaning cycle. You'd expect it to be a little clearer after shelling out $150 to have the floors cleaned! I only wish i had just gone out and bought the Bissell and did the job myself the first time.

I'd definitely recommend this steamer to other parents. I read a lot of online reviews covering the Bissell and Hoover models to get an idea of how much i wanted to spend and how well the products hold up. The Bissell ProHeat models' main advantage over the Hoovers is in durability. There were lots of happy Hoover customers who complained about parts breaking and that's not something I want to deal with. The Bissell ProHeat line comes in a few flavors and i decided the 'Select Pet' was the one for me. There is a newer ProShot model, which is basically the same but gives you a few questionable extra options for an extra $75 or so. The ProHeat comes with several attachments for stairs and furniture. I'll have to tackle those projects after the big family visit next week!

Falling Leaves

2008-11-06T15:56:00.000-05:00

Today may be the last warm day of the year up here in Michigan. It was perfect: around 70, sunny, and just enough breeze to rattle the leaves. We took the Little Roo for a three mile stroll through the woods our nearby nature park. I didn't expect that we were going on any trails, so I left the Bjorn at home. So, we plowed along up and down hills, through the leaves, and over roots with the big stroller. It was a challenge, but soooo worth it today. Somehow she managed to fall asleep while bouncing and jostling along!

Change of pace

2008-10-16T22:54:00.000-04:00

Just as I was really getting used to the benefits of my daughter sleeping through the night teething pains decided to throw me for a loop! Nap times have been scaled way back; crabbiness has increased. Friday night, a night where I need sleep before my long weekend of work, was where it all started.

First it took forever to get my Little Roo to fall asleep. I figured it was just one of those nights. Then, around 2AM, the screaming started. I went through all of the usual routines to try to get her to fall back asleep and figure out what the problem was. Then, as I felt hopeless and laid her back down in her bassinet, she began to tug at her ear. Wait a second! I read about this! That would also explain the trouble we had during her last feeding. Luckily, we already had a tube of Orajel at the ready. A few dabs of that, some time on Dad's shoulder, and she was back to sleep. All was well.

Well, not quite all was well. I had to get up for my 14 hour shift in just a few hours. Oh well, at least I don't have to deal with my old 44 mile rush hour commute in the morning. It has been nearly a week now and so far this teething process seems to be at random. Some days no problem at all; other days are full of surprises.

A Walk in the Park

2008-10-02T16:56:00.000-04:00

Today I packed up my Little Roo in the cruiser and headed over to the nature center. The ironic part is that the nature center for the huge part near us is about 3/4 of a mile away in a straight line, but a few years ago some jackass in the Metropark administration thought it would be a great idea to close off the old entrance and connect the nature center to the main park by a two mile road. Now I have to drive four miles to get to the main park entrance and then backtrack four miles to the nature center. Luckily, we know the naturalists pretty well and they told us about some of the lesser known trails that we can still get to from right down the street which even have their own little parking area now. I was noticing on the map that they are planning on making a short trail connecting the little parking lot to the nature center area.

But anyway....I like to visit the actual nature center every now and then to see what they have going on and chat with the naturalists. There have been lots of changes over the past year or so. The nature center used to be an old home that was built by the wealthy family in Detroit who owned that chunk of the property as their country retreat. Well, it was in bad need of renovations. Problem: by today's standards for a public space the ceiling was too low, etc., etc. So, they built a brand new building in the typical, current, educational building style. To many visitors' dismay, they tore down the old house! There's just a bare field of grass there now. it makes me sad to know I can't share my experiences there with my daughter. The new building is nice, but feels so sterile. It lacks the 'natural' feel of its surroundings. I'll get over it after a while; at least the nature programs are still put on for the kids and adults and all of the trails are intact.

Today we saw two herds of turkeys strolling around in the fields and a couple of deer. I had her strapped into the Bjorn so I could hit the trails, but it was threatening to rain and I just stuck to the areas near the parking lot just in case. The great thing about going on a weekday is that there is hardly anybody there; especially once the kids go back to school. We only saw one mother with her two little ones playing in the nature center; nobody on the trails. It was quiet, peaceful, and Little Roo is really starting to become interested in everything she sees. Just sitting on a bench or standing near some trees was good baby entertainment for an hour. I need to come up with plans for getting her out and about when the weather turns colder and the days shorter.

Baby Food

2008-09-29T17:04:00.000-04:00

Well, I've spent the last two days making baby food for when my daughter is finally old enough to eat 'real' food. Yesterday was spent making grape juice, though I have to admit a good portion of it will end up in my gut. Today I've been working on converting the bushel of apples we picked last week into applesauce to freeze. It takes quite a bit of effort to peel and chop that many apples! Hopefully, she'll love applesauce.

This week's research project is guesstimating how long my Little Roo will eat baby food, how much of it, and how to go about the supply and demand issue. I've been asking baby veterans about how long their kids ate mush to get a round about idea. But the big logistical question is how to go about preparing it.

There are plenty of options. There's the highly recommended Beaba Baby cook that steams, blends, and even defrosts/reheats food 9only one appliance to clean). Or, I can make larger batches with the food processor I already have and freeze it (but who knows what foods she'll like). Or I can just buy the stuff in the jars; but what the heck do they put in there (a lot of Chinese parents are asking that question right now).

For now she is just starting to get the hang of eating rice cereal, so that gives me a bit of time to figure it out. All I know is she had better like applesauce :-)

A Damn Fine Day

2008-09-24T15:13:00.000-04:00

There was a short seminar at work today. I thought about going; it might have been a little useful. But the sky was perfectly blue. The air crisp. The orchards beckoned.

I know a number of people who would have thought it really important to their career or filled with the false hope that if you go out of your way for anything at work they will never lay you off. I feel sorry for them because they may never know how deeply happy I felt to be out amongst the trees picking apples with my wife and daughter or how it feels to share the moment with my Little Roo as she reached out to grab at the apples and their leaves.

The office will still be there tomorrow. Jobs will come and go as they always have. But the fleeting moments I shared today will stay in my heart and mind forever. I'm glad to be a SAHD.

Thar She Rolls!

2008-09-23T20:12:00.000-04:00

While sitting around chatting with my grandparents and watching my Little Roo wiggle on her playmat we noticed something; she was trying to roll over. After about 15 minutes she finally managed to do so and seemed quite proud of herself. The next morning she had a rollfest after breakfast. She would roll over then I would flip her on her back and let her practice her skill. Two days later she rolls with ease. It was just amazing to see her struggle to learn something and then perfect it so quickly! I guess that makes up for having to drive her around in the car for nearly two hours the other night when she decided to skip all naps and turn into a little demon :-)

Project day! It's my wife's week off on her work rotation; so that means attacking my home projects. I'm finally on the last major project that seriously needs to be accomplished: installing shelving in the upstairs storage room. I already have all of the contents of the closet occupying the office and bathroom up there; just enough room to work last weekend. Now, after 8pm, I finally have all the materials and can bust my butt to get it finished tonight and (hopefully) put at least most of the stuff back in there. Carpet cleaners come in two days, so I actually have a deadline. This will end five months of projects taking up my few hours of freetime with my family.

Tomorrow's project: APPLE PICKING! I'm loading up the family in the new Flex adn we're heading off to the orchards. Prediction is sunny and 78 degrees; expect some pictures!

Giggles and Rain

2008-09-15T16:03:00.000-04:00

Quick update while the ladies are both napping. It rained all weekend, but at least I had my daughter and wife home to brighten my days. So far only two giggles, though she smiles all day long. First rice cereal attempt last night and this morning went much better than anticipated. Poop strike ended today after over a week; relief and plugged noses. Four month checkup; nearly 11 pounds and 24inches long; doing just fine for such an early little girl. Bought lots of fall and winter outfits; still need to find some hats. Crib will needed soon; growing too fast. Apple picking in a few weeks; can't wait! New family cruiser arrives soon; road trip time!

Fall is coming and the Suburbanites are following!

2008-09-09T15:30:00.000-04:00

This morning, as I left early to take my wife's Mustang to the dealer for service I was stunned by the cool, crisp air. Wow! Fall already! I guess I'll have to wear something other than cargo shorts and a t-shirt now. Well, there was only one thing to do: on the way home I picked up some fresh donuts and apple cider from one of the local stands. That was my second shock.

I quickly remembered why we rarely go to that stand: it's for the suburban tourists. It's still family owned and operated and has a good size orchard right there, but it's built for a different clientèle and the prices definitely reflected that fact. Do some math on the way home I figured I must have spend four bucks for half a dozen donuts! My usual place charges me less than half that and has a lot more variety. Of course, the tourist place is only open from sometime in June until the end of October; and even then they close for a few weeks between cherries and peaches in August. My regular stand is open all year, sells all variety of fruit, vegetable, and the best pies I've ever had. I'm fortunate to have such a place to shop and I'd never give that up for convenience of lower prices. It's part of the local landscape and part of our heritage. Too many of locals institutions have been replaced by large, unfriendly boxes. Even as I write this there is a new Rite Aid being built on the corner across the street from my local stand. Just one more stake in the tracks bringing the suburbanites out to the country.

Despite having the highest jobless rate and mortgage defaults in the country, they just keep building and keep coming. It makes me worry about what will happen to this community by the time my daughter begins school and the community begins to have an impact on her. Will the suburbanites try to push their way into the school boards, PTA, town councils, etc.? Do they even have time for that or are they too busy complaining. Three of my transplant neighbors complained about the field of grasses and wild flowers growing under the big power lines. "It looks awful! Why don't they mow that down?!" This year they did; instead of the usual once mid-summer, it has been mowed several times. Now I don't have wild flowers I just have a view of the road beyond. I guess this must make them feel more at home. Nature is too scary for them; being local doesn't mean a thing.

"I can't afford to heat my 4,000 square foot McMansion in the winter!" "I can't afford gas for my Escalade!" "I got laid off from my job; thank God for Walmart!" Please, please just go back to suburbia.

But then I hear the rustle of the leaves on the trees out back and think of my daughter's upcoming first trip to the apple orchard and it brings a smile to my face. They can't take the 'local' out of me; it will always be there.

Moment of Peace

2008-09-01T16:33:00.000-04:00

Sunshine beats down on the side of the house and pours in through the gaps in the blinds. Overhead, the fan wafts warm air down on me while the click-clack of the baby swing lulls me into a dreamy state. Birds chirp, leaves rustle in the branches, an occasional cars goes by. My world is at ease for a few brief moments.

The phone rings. Damn, I need to turn that ringer off. It's work; sounds like they forgot to schedule somebody to work on the holiday. They forgot to do the same last night and I ended up with an 18 hour day instead of the usual 14. Two dinners ruined this weekend and ate at my desk. I don't get paid holidays anymore; I only work 26 hours each weekend. Most of my colleagues are getting paid to have fun with their families right now.

I think I'll drift back to my dreamy summer afternoon for i know all too well that it will not last much longer. There's a baby who will be hungry and in need of a fresh diaper, dinner to make, dishes to put away, and a long walk with the stroller this evening. This fleeting peaceful moment is my holiday. I won't let it go.

SAHD Grocery Store Experience: Family Size Pricing Rip Off

2008-08-21T23:59:00.000-04:00

I learned a lesson in deceit tonight at the grocery store: buying family size packages do not necessarily mean you are saving any money. In fact, it was just the opposite. The principle of buying in bulk is that it costs less per unit for a manufacturer to produce and ship a larger package than a 'normal' size package. Thus, the price per unit should be cheaper for you. A kind of reward for buying in bulk. I found the opposite to be true when I scrutinized the pricing of my Kraft Mac n Cheese!

Single box (normal size package): 74 cents
Family size (basically double the quantity): $1.99!
So, it costs 51 cents MORE to buy the family size than to buy two regular size boxes! That's a pretty significant difference.
But wait, it gets better! How about the bulk package?
Five box bulk package: $4.19
Five individually priced boxes @$0.74: $3.70!!
So, it costs 49 cents MORE to buy in bulk! What the heck?

I only had time to check one other item since I was almost finished with shopping and my little angel was waking up. I instinctively went to grab the largest box of Cheerios but remembered my pasta lesson. I checked the price per ounce and found that it was the same scenario; it was cheaper to buy the regular size box instead of the huge 'family size' box! I'll definitely have to pay more attention next time I go to the store.

Luckily, there is a quick and easy way to tell what package is the best buy! If you look at the shelf price tag it shows the price per whatever standard unit the item is measured in. For example: my Kraft Mac n Cheese shows a cost of 10.7 cents per ounce (7.25 ounce regular package size at a price of 74 cents).

Getting older already

2008-08-12T15:52:00.000-04:00

Wow! So my daughter is 15 weeks old as of yesterday and already she has doubled in weight and is a few inches longer. It amazes me when I look back at pictures from just two months ago and see how small she was. My favorite part is that she is becoming more and more of an individual each day.

The smiles started a few weeks back along with the increased balance and muscle control. New sounds are replacing the grunts and and even her cries are distinguishable and help me know what she needs; or if she's just annoyed with me. Fatherhood started off as sort of a dull routine of feeding, changing diapers, and scavenging for sleep. Now it is a full blown adventure. I never know what the next day will bring and I am wholeheartedly glad that I have the opportunity to be home with my daughter and watch her find her way into the world.

Shopping for a new SAHD Vehicle

2008-08-05T01:05:00.000-04:00

When my daughter was born fifteen weeks ago we quickly discovered that my Saturn VUE was not quite up to the task of hauling her and her gear along for anything other than a trip to Target; and even that was pretty cramped if my wife wanted to sit next to the car seat in the back. Reluctantly I have been shopping for a larger vehicle. Now, i have always been a sports car guy and miss my SCCA SOLO II racing days and the thought of having to 'move up' to a larger SUV was a bummer. We love our road trips and have always planned to include our children in the exploration of America, so I have been scoping out the full size crossovers. At least I can find capacity without too much height there.

Having owned three Saturns, I first turned to the Outlook as my step up. It looks good and seemed like there would be plenty of room. We got to the dealer, opened the door and discovered that the car seat just barely fit and was touching the front seat! Sure the driver seat was decent, but when I sat in the back I realized that a road trip with the guys would not be all too comfortable. Since the Saturn dealer was very busy, and not too close to home, we decided to hit the local GMC shop and test drive an Acadia since they are practically the same vehicle. My despair grew as I drove what felt like a full size truck lazily around the corners with the loose steering wheel. Feeling let down, we headed for home. But something happened along the way.

As we drove past the Ford dealer my autopilot kicked in and we arrived. I had included the Ford crossovers in my list, but had crossed them off as too small, but when i saw the new Flex sitting out front I was drawn in. Now, my wife and i love road trips and lately I have been watching Feasting on Asphalt in an attempt to get myself a little more excited about purchasing a vehicle large enough to allow us to continue our road trips. When I saw the Flex it just screamed 'road trip' in my head as i pictured rolling up to some little dive of a place for lunch in some far off state down South. Even if it was smaller than the vehicles on my list I needed to at least check it out. Fifteen minutes later we were on a test drive!

Everything about the Flex impressed me, plenty of room despite the technical dimensions, pure comfort in all of the seats, lots of head room, and plenty of technology packed into the dash. It looks like one of these classic wagons will be joining the Mustang in the garage soon!

SAHD Surprise: Relatives!

2008-08-05T00:17:00.000-04:00

OK, so it's Monday. My wife starts her 7 night long work week so she's just about to get back to bed. Me, well I just fed my daughter and was thinking about either a nap or getting in the shower to get my day started.

Suddenly, a knock at the door! I'm not expecting anything from UPS; maybe it's one of the neighbors come over to bother me about something. My wife looks out the window, "Shit! It's my family!"

Mind you, neither of us has had a shower, or even a cup of coffee in my case. Luckily, the house was already clean and the baby had a bath just last night. I darted into the bedroom to hide while my wife entertained. I could hear the ladies cooing over my daughter as I took a shower. By the time I was out they were gone.

Just like that; the relative wind had blown in and out. Did anybody think to call first? It could have been a fun time instead of a bewildered panic. Oh well, i guess i should just be happy they came by.

One SAHD Week

2008-07-27T22:36:00.000-04:00

Wow! It's been nearly a week since I had time to post! Well, it has been a busy week. First we had some new trees planted and three tons of rocks dumped in place where my wife and I took turns digging out dirt and removing sod last week in the 90+ weather. It all paid off though and we now have a bit more privacy from the increased traffic to the slowly growing subdivision behind us and and the new walkers on the footpath to the park.

What else has kept me so occupied? The baby of course! My daughter seems to require more attention now, which is great but at the same time can be exhausting when you need to get things down around the house. She has also learned to smile which makes my wife tear up and brightens my day immensely. The other benefit of the increase in activity is that she seems to be sleeping longer at night; which means I can revel in the glory of my own bed for at least a few solid hours now.

My hours working from home also increased this week. I typically work Saturday and Sunday 8-5, but now i also fill in with some on call time before and after my shifts. The original plan was that if the client had an emergency they would call me which would have been fine; I'm used to being woken up at odd times anyway. Well, our IT guys managed to automate the process so now reports come in by email every half hour! This is very convenient for the daytime people sitting at their desks, but when you are trying to watch a baby and take care of things around the house it gets pretty annoying to have to pull out your Blackberry every 30 minutes and scroll through a bunch of text to see if there is anything important. It's really not too bad, just a minor annoyance. And being that I live near Metro Detroit and have a good job i can't complain. I figure the extra money I make on the weekends will go towards the new vehicle and replenishing the savings accounts after our leave and all the baby accessories/furniture/remodeling expenses were taken care of.

So now onward to another exciting week in the world of parenthood. The weather is supposed to be perfect all week; mid-80s and sunny! I'm hoping to pick up a Baby Bjorn style front carrier to replace my awkward sling to make hiking much easier.

Three Months and Counting: Twice the Baby She Used to Be

2008-07-22T12:57:00.000-04:00

Well, we hit the twelve week mark yesterday! Sometimes I can't believe it has been that long and other times it seems like our little baby has been around for quite a while. At over eight pounds she is nearly twice the baby she was when born and is developing so many new characteristics now. In the past week she has really started to smile at us, is much more active with those little arms and legs always in motion, and she is starting to sleep better. Even though there is no consistency, the sleep periods are less troubled and some have lasted as long as six hours. My project for this week will be getting her used to sleeping in the bassinet. Once that is accomplished we can start thinking about buying a crib.

With the wife back to work, my SAHD skills have taken root. I've found that in some ways it is easier with only one parent around. The most difficult transition has been the breasts. When Mom is home the little peanut can suck on those nipples all she wants, whether she's feeding, snacking, or napping. When Mom is not around i get some of that wonderful, high-volume baby attitude. Until this point I had not used the pacifier, but it has become a necessity on some occasions. I try my best to limit its use knowing that it can become a habit down the road. Alternatively, feeding are much better when Dad's in charge. I can give her a bottle about every three hours, unless she takes a long nap, and it seems to keep that little baby tummy satisfied. It's also easier to keep track of activities, such as feedings, diaper changes, etc. with just one person handling baby duty. Sleep, however, comes at a price.

Shopping with the Baby

2008-07-10T17:45:00.000-04:00

After 10 weeks I figured I had enough experience to estimate my window of opportunity with my little girl to bundle her up and head to the store. Whether she decided to cooperate or not I was in desperate need of fresh food and the wife is at work this week.

After a good feeding, diaper change, and bath I decided to make a go of it. I strapped my Little Roo into her car seat before she could fall asleep and headed out to the store. By the time I got there she was half way to dreamland. Into the sling and into the store; the population seems to be comprised of old Italian men, moms, and summer vacation kids. (I always follow the old Italian guys to the best produce). The moms seemed to ignore me or stare at my Boppy sling, probably wondering if it was a ferret in there or if i actually was capable of contact with a child, but some of the ladies working at the store gravitated to see my daughter.

I trotted along my usual path, gathering ingredients and snacks along the way, and made it out without a sound from inside the sling. Then I decided to press my luck: Target!

I only needed a handful of items and Target is right on my way home, so I went for broke. Ah, this is where the moms with babies are! Mostly smiles around here, though I was surprised that they all had their infants in car seats balanced on shopping carts instead of something more functional like my sling or a Bjorn carrier.

Giant box o' Pampers, four boxes of garbage bags, family pack of tissues, and off I went. Sadly, they didn't have any shower heads with a shutoff valve to fix my drip problem, but i didn't dawdle as I heard the first rumblings from the little package in my sling. A couple 2-liters of Mountain Dew in the cart and out the door just as she started to wake up.

I made it! I've been dying to get out of the house and accomplish some tasks all week and this was definitely a confidence booster. Maybe tomorrow I'll hit Home Depot; that is if the baby sleep cycle decides to cooperate.

SAHD attempt at home repairs

2008-07-09T11:19:00.000-04:00

Well, it seemed easy. My wife's shower has had a slow drip for a while, so i decided to put an end to it now that I have a little extra time at home. I dismantled it, easier than I thought, and went up to Home Depot for a replacement valve body. Well, Home Depot doesn't even carry replacement parts for Kohler faucets! What?!?! Real nice. At least the guy working there knew what he was doing and we found a Delta repair kit that looked like it might work. As a backup plan, I bought a shower head with a shut off valve so at least she could just use that to stop the drip.

I get home, install the new parts, not fixed. Switch back to the old parts, reinstall, then install the new shower head. What's this? The big handle on the side of the shower head is not a shut off valve, but is used to change the settings! Crap! I guess I need to read the packages better. It looks just like the type that have shut offs.

At this point I can either call a plumber, which would cost too much for a simple repair, or just buy yet another shower head that does have a shut off valve and wait to replace the whole mixing valve when I get around to riping out the fiberglass insert and tiling the shower next year. I guess my bathroom could use a new shower head too :-)

Flying Solo

2008-07-07T19:28:00.000-04:00

Today is my first true solo day as a SAHD. My wife went back to work today after 10 weeks off and now it's just me and the little one. I'm off to a rough start though. I didn't really do too much today, except sit around in a daze, thinking of all the things I need to do and how to get a routine together.

At last I decided to get my butt moving and gave my daughter a bath and washed her playmat. She must know Mom is at work because she has been a little crab today and hasn't given me much leeway. Right now I'm hoping the raining weather will lift so at least I can wrap her up in the sling and go for a walk; it is summer after all.

Escape!

2008-07-04T01:26:00.000-04:00

Well, my parents were in town so we finally had a day to ourselves; the first in nine weeks! We accomplished some much needed shopping and had a nice dinner; even if we did talk about the baby all day. It was refreshing to not have any real responsibility for a whole six hours :-)

The second bonus was that our little girl had her first big round of shots the day before and, for the first time, slept all through the night. If only that would become a trend!

SAHD Moment of the Day

2008-06-26T10:37:00.000-04:00

Diaper failure. I've been waiting for this disaster to happen. I've heard all the stories and knew it was an eventuality. I knew it was going to strike my home one day soon.

It all started with the usual routine: my little 'roo lets out a nice long crappy fart, I pick her up and proceed to the laundry room for a change. Well, this time it went all wrong! As i lay her down on the changing table and reach for the stack of pampers, I notice an abundance of spicy mustard-crap smeared all along her side and even her back. "Good Lord!", I cried as I surveyed the mess and tried to figure out how to extract her from the not-so-pretty pink outfit. Then, it got worse.

First I saw the yellow streak across my baby-carrying arm, then I followed it to my side, and finally to the splatter on my boxers. Luckily, I had been on my way to the shower when the incident occurred and I was not dressed for the day yet. A bath restored my little girl to the pinnacle of cuteness and a good, hot shower restored a bit of my sanity. I think I came out pretty well this time, aside from no longer having a desire to plaster bratwurst with spicy mustard, but I know all too well that this was only the first in a series of SAHD incidents.

The Great baby Adventure

2008-06-22T11:28:00.000-04:00

Eight weeks into my Great Baby Adventure and things are going well. I've adapted to sleeping only a few hours at a time, can change diapers quick as a flash, and have learned to multitask with a baby in a sling (or at least i try). So what now?

How about a blog? I've been writing my Good Eats and Alton Brown blog for a while and thought a more personal blog might help me with the social cutoff I've been experiencing lately. I'm no longer in a n office with 200 other people, my friends seem to think I'm too busy, and my wife will be returning to work in two more weeks. Well, that leaves me with just my daughter who likes to make grunting noises and cries a lot.

Life as a stay at home dad has been much better than I expected. I had high hopes, but the joy I've experienced has made it all worthwhile. I'd love to share that feeling with other people; especially the other dedicated dads I've discovered out there in the vast universe of the internet.

Baby

2008-06-19T17:41:00.000-04:00