28 July
2008

Birthday

I have a 2 year old now
[Fatherhood] 

MG turned 2 recently.  Not quite the monumental birthday of turning 10 (double digits), 13 (teenager), 16 (driving), 18 (adult) or 21 (drinking) but I thought it was eventful none the less.  Oddly enough, I think I have changed more as a result of my daughter getting older than she has.  In honor of my daughter's 2nd birthday, I decided to make a list of things I have learned from watching her.

- If its worth walking to, its worth running to.  No matter how mundane the task, if she makes up her mind to move her body to a new location, she will be running at full speed.  I'm considering doing this throughout my day.
- Communication comes in many forms.  My daughter hasn't quite mastered the English language, but she has picked up some sign language to compensate.  Pretty cool, actually, but it brings on an entirely new set of challenges.  For example, something as simple as talking to her about farm animals could initiate different responses.  If you mention a dog, you might get her to say "dog".  She might decide imitation is the proper communication method by saying either "bow wow" or "ruff ruff".  She might even give you the sign for dog.  Be ready for any and all responses.
- Schedules and routines equal happiness.  Her entire day, whether at home or at daycare is heavily scheduled.  It has to be or else there is chaos.  Besides, she loves the routines and knows them well.  On school days, she knows that Hi5 comes on at 7:08AM (how's that for a specific start time?).
- Doing things you want to do usually come after things you have to do.  There's a lot of bargaining in our house now.  The promise of play time can typically get her to eat a couple more bites at the dinner table.  The potential of computer time or a viewing of Curious George can get her into the bathtub.  She has come to terms with it.
-Sometimes you just need some alone time.  One of the most mature actions I have seen from her.  MG spends her days either with a classroom of other 2 year olds or with her brother.  I have seen her grab a book or a toy and spend some quality time by herself.  I know I need some alone time on occasion, why shouldn't a toddler?


Posted by steve at 08:51 | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)
14 July
2008

Glory Hallelujah!

Packer is dead, long live.....Kellogg?
[Sports] 

I will do my best to hold back my tears....of joy.  But long time target of my hatred, Billy Packer, is reportedly on his way out at CBS.  Please, oh please, USA Today, don't toy with my emotions like this.  "Reportedly" will not cut it here.  I have to know for certain.  We can't treat this like a lackadaisical James Bond supervillian by assuming everything will go to plan and turn our back, allowing an escape to occur.  For this extraction, I imagine we will need a young priest and an old priest.

Despite my elation for the fall of Packer, according to the article Packer will be replaced by Clark Kellogg.  Not sure how I feel about this, especially since Kellogg has spent more time in the studio than on the sidelines.  However, he does know his stuff, for the most part.  He needs to keep playing up his best quality though....not being Billy Packer.  If he can maintain that, he'll be fine.

UPDATE:
Not only is it now official, but Packer won't be doing any more games.  Hopefully ever.


Posted by steve at 08:07 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)
27 June
2008

100 Pushups by August

Sometimes you gotta set some goals
[Misc] 

Recently, I discovered a web site that claims that anyone can do 100 pushups by following their aggressive program.  I have decided to give it a try.  So based on their 6 week schedule, I should be able to do 100 pushups by August 2008 if I follow their program. 

I was already in "fair" to "decent" shape.  Before starting this regimen,  I could crank out 30 to 40 pushups in an ideal environment (rested, motivated, awake, sober)  I'm a fairly active guy, but I don't have a lot of disposable time to work out.  I have some time in the evenings after I get the kids to bed, but I rarely have enough energy at night to go work out or go on a run.  However, I was looking for a way to stay in shape, get stronger and so forth without going to the gym, buying equipment or most importantly requiring a lot of time.  This program seems to fit the bill.

Knowing that sticking to an exercise program would be difficult, despite being only 6 weeks and only requiring 30 minutes a week, I had to insure I would stick with it.  My first step was telling people at my office that I was starting this program.  Some co-workers were interested and some even claimed to start it themselves.  But that just didn't seem like enough.  So I decided tell as many people I can through my blog (all 3 of you).  Finally, I decided to track my progress.  The final motivation is making this progress publicly available, which makes me accountable for my progress.

Track my progress


Posted by steve at 08:57 | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)
18 June
2008

Sleep, How I Missed You

8:30pm
[Fatherhood] 

As the father of two children in diapers, my sleep patterns tend to get mixed up on occasion.  Recently, the 6 month old has been waking up around 5:30AM.  Not crying mind you, just babbling.  The kid is happy, but a little noisy.  The problem is when he wakes up his 23 month old sister.  Once she is awake, everyone is awake...for the day.  In an effort to maximize sleep, we have to retrieve Carter before he wakes Myra Grace.  This has been going on a for a few weeks now, so I had put myself into quite the sleep deficit.

Both kids are typically asleep by 8PM and last night was no exception.  However, after putting the kids to bed, instead of taking care of some tasks around the house or entertaining myself in some fashion, I went straight to the couch.  Asleep by 8:30PM.  I slept there until about 2AM, then made a beeline to my bed where I picked up where I left off on the couch.  Except for a minor interruption by Carter, I slept until 6AM.  By my fuzzy math, thats about 9.5 hours, where I'm used to getting about 7.  I'm definitely "caught up" on the sleep now. 


Posted by steve at 08:25 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)


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