One more week and I'll be home...

Labels: Diary, Travel, Work

Friday was my last day of work. As excited as I was, it felt like my last day of ninth grade. I was all excited, but it also held a deep feeling of sadness as I walked out the door and a little bit of nervousness at what is coming next.

I got over it by the time I got home...

The weekend was great... we hung out with new friends, read a great book, met new neighbors and
hung out and played with the kids. It's a nice feeling knowing we have absolutely zero we "have " to do. Other than some things that we want to do... it's pretty much open to whoever throws a good idea out there.

Today we thought about maybe going to the gym. Grabbing a few movies and vegging out is currently winning, but we'll see. I'd love to catch up on some reading... and for the next six days, anything is possible.

Labels: Diary, Vacation

Today starts my last week at my current job...but who's counting? I'll then have a full week off before I start my new job. To say I've been a little distracted over the last month is a huge understatement. Just about every major life changed happened to us at once, but now that the dust is clearing a bit, I feel like I am breathing again.
There's a good reason people give two weeks notice and move on with their lives. I gave them six weeks. That was probably five weeks and three days longer than my head could handle.
I'm looking forward to this next chapter in our lives... it seems that we have been trying to turn this page for awhile. There's lots to be learned and more changes headed our way and all I can say is that I am so ready for it all.

Labels: Diary, My Life

It seems it all came at once, but there have been some major changes that our family has been handed. First of all... that job that I have been alluding to has finally become a reality. The really good news (besides the job) is that we can stay in Richmond for the time being. Unfortunately, we had to move from WOTB, but did manage to find a house not too far away in Byrd Park Terrace. For the next year, we'll be experimenting with the new job situation. I get to work from home, which is absolutely awesome, but will have to travel a bit to meet with clients. If the travel gets to be too much, we might have to move further north, but hopefully I'll be able to make it work from here.
After accepting the new job (and dealing with the fallout at work...ugghhh) we scrambled to get our apartment rented. We listed, showed and had someone approved in a three day span, and also found our new house and started moving. It looks like a bomb went off in our old place; since we really didn't get to pack much, it was more like throwing stuff in the truck and in my pickup.
We've got a bunch of crazy days ahead. I don't officially start my new position until July 1st, so until then I have a crazy June left but allot to look forward too. Most of all I am thrilled we wont have to leave all of our great friends here in the RVA.

Labels: Diary, Life, Richmond

A tire on the trailer that I am towing to Fredericksburg just blew out... so I thought I'd use this time to write up a quick post. I'm blogging from my smartphone, so this will be short...

Because clayb asked, I will write later on about the interview. It went well, and I have a follow up on Thursday with them. I'll elaborate later.
Right now, I'm sitting on the side of 95... about 20 feet from my truck because i've convinced myself that one of these huge tractors will wipe me out if I sit in there. I love my life and i am not quite ready to go. As I made my way through the brush... a snake jumped out and scared the hell outta me. I'm sure that was fun for whoever drove by and saw me at that moment. If you dont know, I hate snakes. And spiders.
So here I sit... watching the cars roll by. In a weird way, its kinda nice, since this is the first time in weeks that I have been able to stop and not do anything.
I'll write some more later.... I have much catching up to do with my rva blogging friends.

Labels: Diary

A lot has happened this past week. I've been staying up late nights working on a little side project which has consumed me, (more to come soon) and I was offered a new job.

As my Chinese food had informed me, this is a huge and important decision to make. I've been with the same company for seven years now and deep down I really love it. There are days (like today) when the stress and pressure don't help, but on the whole it's great. I like the challenge, the pressure and having something to accomplish on a daily basis.

Without getting too much into it yet, (as none of my coworkers know yet, or most of my family for that matter) I'll know much more soon. I have a lot to sort out, and also the owner of the company to break the news to. That happens in about 30 minutes, when we head out to lunch together.

Wish me luck! (And I'll post as I know more...)

Labels: Diary, My Life

Josiah, Jack and I headed down to the southern outer banks yesterday for a weekend without the girls. This is about as much as a boys weekend as it can get. I hurriedly packed for all three of us yesterday morning, not really sure if I packed underwear for the boys or if I was missing anything else. Sure enough, I didn’t pack their toothbrushes and I have nothing to brush their hair with. I tried to wet their hair down, but Josiah really didn’t want me to do that, so he voted to just shave his head. I guess this is what boys do, so I figure we'll make do.

The drive down was pretty uneventful, with the boys playing their Gamecube in the back while I zoned out to whatever was playing over the radio. Every now and then I’d look back at them through the rearview mirror and just smile. I can’t define exactly what being a dad all means… but this is as close as it gets for me right now.

We had a couple of emergency pit stops, but still managed to get down here in a good time. The realty company messed up our keys, so while we waited for the after hours person to show up, we headed down to the beach and took it in. The boys have been to the beach before, but it was like they had seen it for the first time. That’s weird for me, having lived all my life in Miami. The ocean was always there and it was always a part of my life. I miss Miami that way.

We finally got the keys and made it in, and the boys immediately discovered the Xbox in the house. I found my way into the other room to put the college ball game on and got settled in. During breaks we made our plans for this weekend. Kite flying, mini golf, sea shell hunting and maybe a dip in the water if it’s not freezing. I think we’ll make it to the aquarium at some point. After about an hour of hanging out I realize we had nothing to eat. In most cases this would be a problem, but mama packed chips, fruit roll ups and pop tarts for the ride down.

So video games and pop tarts kicked off our first night. We played into the night, watched basketball and pretty much passed out at about eleven. Today we’ll explore the town a bit and head to the beach a bit later. We miss our girls, but I’m really glad to hang out with my boys. I'm telling you, right now, this is what being a dad is all about.

Labels: Diary, Jackie-boy, Josiah, Vacation

I just got back to work after taking a bit of an extended lunch break and heading to my buddy's house to play on his new Nintendo Wii. All I can say is awesome.
We played Tiger Wood's PGA Golf 07' and I absolutely loved it. I had heard lots of good about the Wii, but hadn't had the chance to actually play it. The controls were extremely intuitive, and it really felt like I had gone and taken a couple of swings at the golf range. (Complete with a small twinge in my shoulder)

Besides the fact I had to head back to work and eventually home... I could have easily spent hours playing it. Our family has gone from zero video game consoles in our house to having a Gamecube and a PS2. The irresponsible part of me would love to go and drop some cash on the Wii... but I just might have to make do with mooching off my buddy for now.

Labels: Diary

I'll be in Atlanta this week kids, doing some shopping, going out to dinners, and maybe catching a pro sporting event or two. No...I'm not on vacation, I'm working. Really.Hard. I swear.

I'm spending this week at our industry's annual convention, talking to all of our vendors and buying lots of stuff for our business. It really is a lot of hard work, but the upside is that our vendors love to take take us out for dinner and drinks at the end of the day. That's the good part, the bad part is that I have to be here in the first place. I usually bitch and moan about having to go on this trip, but there is a small little part inside of me that loves the schmoozing that goes on.

It didn't help that I was totally unprepared for this trip, but it really didn't help that my little guy Josiah had a bit of hard time when it finally hit him that I would be gone for the whole week. Nothing makes it harder to go on a trip that you really don't want to go on than your little guy hanging on to you and *really* not wanting you to go. Granted, it was pretty early in the morning when I was getting ready to go, so I'm sure he was pretty tired. But I could see in his little eyes how much he just wanted me to stay there with him. *Sigh*

My boss and I decided to drive down instead of flying, which really works out for me, because not only do I have a slight weirdness about flying, I also get hyper-emotional when I fly. I start thinking of all the bad things that can happen, and eventually the only thought that is running through my head is that I won't see my family again... Cheery huh?

But on to better things... our week down here started out pretty good. We got tickets to the Hawks-Lakers game. Which was pretty random, because we were talking about maybe trying to go see the game and not five minutes later a scalper walks by with tickets for $25.00 a piece. What a bargain, I said. Watching Kobe Bryant play was maddening, mainly because I can't stand the guy, but I can't help but be impressed about his skills. After the game we headed to McCormick & Schmick's for a pretty awesome dinner.

So eventually we will work pretty hard (even though to the wife it sounds like all I do out here is play), but mainly I want this week to fly by so I can get home back to my family and to the neighborhood that I love.

Labels: Diary, Travel

"The reason that Dads shouldn't whine is because whether you're a dad or not a dad, your life stays basically the same. It's just a matter of increased responsibility. But once a woman has a baby, she's a mom, and the world demands a lot from moms. " - Neil Pollack

Ok... I get it. I'm sad to say it has taken me eight years of marriage to really get it, but I think I finally do. The wife and I have had the same argument for eight years now.. you know, I work so hard and I do this and you don't do this... I deserve a break because I've "worked" fifty hours this week. After so many of the same arguments, I see that I've been really whiny about this part of our relationship. And arrogant.

The wife usually raves about me because I do this amount of housework and take care of the kids this amount of time. I've let that get in my head. I think I do so much, but really, it doesn't come close to what she has done and continues to do on a daily basis. I realize that if I were to go tit for tat... I'll have nothing to stand on. That thought alone is pretty sobering.

Don't get me wrong... I'm not going to beat myself up. I think I'm a pretty good dad and partner. A pretty damm good one actually. But I don't want to be a whiner. When I read the above statement, It dawned on me that I really have no clue into the amount of work that moms do. And here I thought because I work full time and do some dishes every now and then that I should have some special exemption or something.

So we had the same argument a couple of days ago, not really because the wife wanted to, but because I pressed the issue. I'm not one for confrontation, but I felt like I had worked hard this week, I'd been watching the kids, I did the laundry... Man, did she clean my clock, and deservedly so. It finally dawned on me when she gently reminded me that it has been her that has done all of this for the past seven years, and although my recent contributions are very much welcome, she has been carrying the load for quite awhile. That's when it hit me and that stupid smile of recognition came across my face. I get it now. I think I really do.

Labels: Diary, My Life

The online world and the real world came together for me this week when I met Lindsey's boyfriend during a meeting at my work. I spent most of the meeting wondering where I knew him from and finally asked him after we were done. The funniest exchange came when we both commented on how we don't remember much from our respective childhoods. Except the beatings. Somehow I always find that conversation kind of awkward and funny all at the same time.

I've decided to give up TV. Well, Not *all* TV, since I really can't give up The Office or Jon Stewart, but most TV. Our TV viewing habits hit a new low when The Real Housewives of the OC came on and I watched it. I wonder if God can tack that hour back on to the end of my life. Right now the wife is watching Engaged & Underaged on MTV while I silently die on the inside.

If I was a waiter or waitress and I saw us coming in to my restaurant, I'd want to turn and run. Much to their credit, most have kept their professionalism and done a great job. I'll go ahead and say it... I would have a hard time serving a table with three kids under six, specially when one of those kids is Lucy. I love Lucy to death, but man, she can just about ruin any eating out experience. It's not her fault, really. It's just that we forget. We forget how awful the last time was and we try to subject her to an hour of sitting down. It doesn't work. Just this past Saturday, we took a walk through Carytown, went to the toy store, and decide to go grab some burgers. The whole afternoon can be summarized this way: A lovely walk interrupted by the lunch from hell. Of course I'm exaggerating, but since I can't really remember what my burger tasted like since I wolfed it down trying to get out of there as soon as possible, I'll chalk it up as a not so good eating experience. We walked out of there a little more disheveled, and determined to give our little gets-in-to-everything mess maker a break from the restaurant circuit.

Although it is Tuesday morning, I am finally glad last week is over. Yup, that means that I am about three days too late, and now I'm a day behind on crap I have to get done for this week. I'm not sure how many more projects I can take on, but a little part of me is glad that I have an abudance of things to do instead of the usual three month brain drain that happens during the wintertime at my work.

And last, but not least, my favorite new site this week:

I did not know that yesterday! Because you can't ever have too much knowledge. (via Chris Glass)

Have a great week my friends!

Labels: Diary, Richmond

The wife (who is an amazing mom, writer, friend, sister, daughter...) has decided to add one more awesome thing to her growing list of things she is awesome at. To achieve said awesomeness, she took a three day certification course over the weekend. That means that I was left to to be wholly responsible for the care of the kids.

I was up for the challenge, although a little bit nervous, since this was the first time Lucy would be away from her for such a long time. The boys were great and so was Lucy. (Even though she goes nutty from time to time) No one was injured, everybody was fed most of the time, the house was cleaned up and I did a bang up job dressing my little girl. (The boys and myself, well that's a different story.)

The funniest moments were out in public, when moms would do a double take, probably asking themselves who in their right mind let him out with these kids by themselves. I felt out of place everywhere I went.(Except the park, there were plenty of dads there with their kids) I saw one lady glance at my ring finger. I wonder what she was thinking? Is it really that weird to see a dad out by himself with just the kids?

Anyways, we had a blast. Over two and a half days we wrestled, watched movies, went to the park, bought new legos, watched football, went to Target, ate at Baja fresh and Jersey Mike's and finally came home and collapsed. (Lucy was the one who watched football with me. She is the coolest baby ever.)

Labels: Diary

To those young, carefree and more importantly, child free couples out there… listen carefully…. enjoy these days. I say this from experience. Not that I don’t love my kids. I LOVE my kids. I ADORE my kids. My kids are the world to me... you get the picture. But as the wife and I walked down to Carytown on New Year's eve with the kids in tow, we were silently envious of all the couples all dressed up heading to the parties around town.

It ended up being a nice night. A pretty sweet night actually. After hanging out in Carytown for awhile, we walked back home to make sure we didn't get rained on. We toasted the New Year's with the boys around ten with some sparkling juice. We got the kids off to bed, popped a bottle of wine, and watched the stragglers head down to Carytown to watch the ball rise. (Which, by the way, was a smashing success)

After watching the ball drop on tv, we tuned the gamecube on and proceeded to beat the crap out of each other while playing Fight Night Round Two. We were up till who knows playing on the gamecube, slighly buzzed from the wine, having a great time. So even though we weren't kid-free this New Year's, I have to say it was one of the sweetest and fun one I've had in a long time. I had a great time this New Year's eve... how about you guys?

Labels: Diary

I will start eating better...
I will start going back to the gym...
I will watch less tv...
I will start reading more...
I will get organized...

The first week of the year doesn't count, right?

Labels: Diary