If you know much about my 14 year old son Dylan, you know that he's prone to spectacular injuries. He doesn't go for the little injuries like skining your knees on the street. Instead, he crashes through the front storm door, splits his legs open in three different places, and winds up getting fifty-seven stitches.Well, this time, we have a "Christmas Story" adventure to tell. Dylan was excited to spend some of his Christmas money on a very nice, very realistic looking BB air pistol. I said "Are you sure? You could shoot your eye out, kid!" He said that he could handle anything that came his … [Read more...]

The kids and I had a great time this weekend. I've found a new must-read now that I'm subscribing to the Tennessean again - Ms Cheap. Ever since Kelly and I separated, I've been looking for FUN ways to entertain ourselves while still being CHEAP. The thing that has amazed me is that there really are a lot of fun things to do that won't burn a hole in your pocket.So, the first thing I had on the calendar was a trip to the Hermitage. For some reason, I'd read Ms Cheap as saying that Saturday, January 7th would be a free day. It was the annual celebration of the Battle of New Orleans, the famous … [Read more...]

I can't take it anymore! My working space is too d-mned cluttered!How can I get any work done when the place looks like this???But now I'm caught in a Catch-22. I've got so much work to do that I shouldn't take the time to clean up. But I've got so much cleaning up to do that I can't concentrate.This bugs the crap outta me!I don't know if everyone keeps a list of to-do's, but here's mine.1. Fix old Compaq computer2. Set up scanner on kids computer3. Set up Epson printer on Compaq computer (unless Kelly wants the printer)4. Replace light fixtures in girl's room5. Replace light fixture in girl's … [Read more...]

Ever have one of those days where you wake up, look in the mirror, and think "What the heck happened to me!" Well, that happened today... What's left of my hair just decided to do it's own thing without any consultation from me. You know, it's funny but Katie Jo used to have hair exactly like this when she was an infant. Anyway, somebody tagged me so here are my response.First: Tell five things about yourself that others don't know.1) I have only been in love twice in my life. 2) I cannot tolerate a zit. If I see a big ol' zit on a friend who refuses to get ride of it, I have to fight an urge … [Read more...]

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Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder (OCD) - It seems like we've all got it to some degree or other. I recall that one friend of the family can't leave the house for anything without unplugging all of the hair dryers, curling irons, clothes irons, etc - TWICE!My dad could never stand to allow a telephone cord to be tangled. No matter what he was doing, he always had to stop and untangle the cord. And that is even true when we were at restaurants, auto garages, grocery stores, wherever! And you have to remember that I'm talking about pre-cell phone days here, so every phone had a cord.My … [Read more...]

Yes, my son is becoming more manly by the moment. He's had a little greasy Latino-looking mustache thing going on for a few months and I'd been pestering him to get in front of the sink to take care of it. Well, he finally went to work on it. He did pretty good for his first time with no nicks of any sort.Remember how exciting it was when you first got to shave? You felt so adult. It was kind'a like that with driving too. You couldn't wait for any excuse to get behind the wheel. "What's that mom? Need some more Tic Tacs? I'm on my way!" But like so many other of these rights o'passage, … [Read more...]

...comes in through the roof at my house!Yes, we had another dreaded bathroom toilet leak last night. Y'see, this is actually the good Lord's way of keeping me humble. I'd been feeling pretty good about the job I'd been doing as Mr. Mom lately. None of the kids had been late to school, missed an appointment, went hungry, or lacked for clean clothes, towels, or linens. I was starting to feel, well, that I had a bit of control over the domestic agenda. But the Lord likes to keep us from getting big heads, so he sent this specific tribulation my way. Here's the story...We'd had a very full and … [Read more...]

Thanksgiving was a doozy this year. We went down to Kelly's brother's house and met her dad and step-mom, plus her brother, sister-in-law, and all three of their kids. Kelly and I have a lot going on emotionally and relationship-wise, but we did the best we could and, in the end, it turned out to be a pretty good day.The girls stayed at their aunt's house and Dylan spent the night with a friend. Kell and I returned home and went to bed early. On the following day, I performed one of my annual Christmas season traditions - early morning shopping for bargains. I found a few good deals at Staples … [Read more...]

I've had the joy of spending a lot of time with my kids this weekend. On Friday, Katie Jo and I went for a walk to both ends of our street. We visited with current neighbors and some new neighbors who are finishing up construction on their new house. We played in the creek. We tossed pine needles and climbed the stonework at the end of the driveways. But we had the most fun tossing dozens and dozens of acorns into one of the bigger crawdad holes in the creek.Thursday was Katie's last day at preschool for a few days due to the Thanksgiving holidays. So I went to visit her, along with Kelly, for … [Read more...]

‘Tis another day to remember the things that I’m thankful for. The list could be huge, of course, because I’m such a blessed and luck guy. However, I’ll just list a few things that I experienced this week. Here are some things I experienced this week that brought a big smile to my face and at least a momentary rush of joy:- Grocery shopping with TWO full carts ‘cuz our family is so big. Oh yeah, and the bill was $453!- Seeing a little old lady and little old man walking and happily holding hands- A hug from someone I love- Pulling some cute kiddie clothes out of the laundry that don’t fit … [Read more...]