This is from a comment I made to someone else's blog post but when I got done making the "comment" it was longer than I had anticipated originally writing and decided it warranted posting here.
[My Daughter Sara]...Loves to play with friends but content most of the time in her own world playing by herself. Last night I spent a couple minutes trying to make contacts using the handheld ham radio while standing at the window in my room. To do this I say something like, “Good evening this is KE7UTN (my call sign) checking the repeater. Is anyone listening tonight?” Sara must have watched and several minutes later my wife came to tell me Sara was wandering around her room by herself with a toy flip phone to her ear saying things like, “Hello, this is GFCO (the group Mandy is involved in) is anyone out there listening?” It is not uncommon to walk by her room to see her in there by herself playing with toys and talking to them or acting as the voice for them so they can talk to each other. Sometimes she has her toys argue with each other and sometimes they do something where she has to discipline them. It’s funny to watch & listen sometimes.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
A job well done
My Dad taught me that if you're going to do something, do your best at it and always finish what you start.
For the last couple years I was reminded of this anytime I drove through a neighborhood not far from mine. There is this house on the main street in this neighborhood where the front yard is divided somewhat in half by the cement walkway going from the street up to the house. What I found odd about this, and the thing that reminded me of my Dad's teachings was that only one side of the front yard had a lawn put in and the other side was just dirt. For many months before this I remember both sides were just black plastic held down by rocks to prevent weeds from growing. Then came the week when there was topsoil spread out and it was like that for several more months, and finally the one side had seeds planted and green started to pop up. It remained like this for quite some time and the sight reminded me of another saying that sounded very similar to one my Dad used when I wouldn't complete a job such as taking the trash out but not putting a new bag in the can or doing yard work but not putting the tools away.
This is...wait for the punchline...
For the last couple years I was reminded of this anytime I drove through a neighborhood not far from mine. There is this house on the main street in this neighborhood where the front yard is divided somewhat in half by the cement walkway going from the street up to the house. What I found odd about this, and the thing that reminded me of my Dad's teachings was that only one side of the front yard had a lawn put in and the other side was just dirt. For many months before this I remember both sides were just black plastic held down by rocks to prevent weeds from growing. Then came the week when there was topsoil spread out and it was like that for several more months, and finally the one side had seeds planted and green started to pop up. It remained like this for quite some time and the sight reminded me of another saying that sounded very similar to one my Dad used when I wouldn't complete a job such as taking the trash out but not putting a new bag in the can or doing yard work but not putting the tools away.
This is...wait for the punchline...
...A Half Grass Job
Sunday, July 27, 2008
The price of health
My wife & 5 year old daughter spent 7 hours at the Auburn Regional Medical Center today. When my wife relayed the status of our daughters condition to the nurses staffed on the Urgent Care help line (103 degree temperature and climbing since the night before with vomiting through the night), they recommended taking her in to the Emergency Room at the hospital.
My wife sat & waited for 3 hours to be seen. When the time came that my daughters Motrin had worn off and she could have another dose, my wife asked to get something to help reduce the fever. After an hour there was nothing and she was told just a few more minutes. After 3 hours someone came in to discharge her and my wife indicated they had still gotten nothing of the sort. Her request was finally fulfilled on the way out the door but she was still sent home with 104 degree temperature which was worse than when she got there.
I'm no doctor but that makes no sense to me. The other thing I don't understand is what the heck I'm paying these medical expenses for. When my daughter leaves the hospital worse than when she went in, having spent several hours there, and received only a few minutes of attention during that time, I am unable to comprehend what awesome service I'm paying for.
My wife sat & waited for 3 hours to be seen. When the time came that my daughters Motrin had worn off and she could have another dose, my wife asked to get something to help reduce the fever. After an hour there was nothing and she was told just a few more minutes. After 3 hours someone came in to discharge her and my wife indicated they had still gotten nothing of the sort. Her request was finally fulfilled on the way out the door but she was still sent home with 104 degree temperature which was worse than when she got there.
I'm no doctor but that makes no sense to me. The other thing I don't understand is what the heck I'm paying these medical expenses for. When my daughter leaves the hospital worse than when she went in, having spent several hours there, and received only a few minutes of attention during that time, I am unable to comprehend what awesome service I'm paying for.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Delayed Humor Response
When we took our trip to Missouri back in May, we took our kids by this dam that created the Lake of the Ozarks. It was not far from the resort we were staying at so we thought we'd check it out. Taking a cue from National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation, we followed suit and made jokes about not seeing any dam gift shop where we could get start a dam tour with a dam tour guide or buy some dam pictures so we took our own dam pictures, etc. My wife & I thought it was kind of funny and yet appropriate for the scenario this went on for a few minutes and our kids had no comment or reaction to our play on words.
Fast forward to this week when we drive by a fenced yard not far from our house that has a donkey in it. I notice it and, in the same light and humor as reflected on above, I say "ass" in a tone that suggests I'm calling someone a jerk. My wife & kids are in the car at the time and my wife, who obviously didn't see the donkey surprisingly shocked asks, "What did you just say?" I explained the situation and, since our kids were in the car (at least for our 7 year old), turned in to a teaching moment about how sometimes words can have 2 different meanings and that this particular word is another name for a donkey as referenced in the Bible but today we more commonly just say donkey since we don't want to mistakenly swear (as kids sometimes call each other names of animals when pretending or just being mean ie; chicken, cow, pig, etc)
This of course led to how two words that sound the same can also have different meanings and one can be a swear word. So we asked the 7 year old, "What do you call that thing that beavers make that holds back lots of water?" Having recently learned about beavers at the library she knew the answer right away and answered, "Dam." We pointed out how it sounds like a swear word but it's not when used in the right context and then of course recounted our dam jokes from Missouri. We paused and several seconds passed and I looked back at my daughter with a look that seemed to indicate concentration and that the gears were spinning in her head. After a few moments we hear her say calmly but like she just figured something out, "Hey, that's funny. You should turn that into a joke."
My wife & I busted out with laughter at the delayed humor response from our wonderfully intelligent child. We had made these same jokes 2 months ago and she just now gets it. She didn't laugh though, it was just a response of sudden understanding. Perhaps she regarded it as the same kind and level of funny as the joke she recently read to me off of a Popsicle stick..."What is the most important thing to remember when going skateboarding?...A skateboard." Of course I didn't know it was supposed to be a joke when she asked me so I answered "helmet" as expected. I saw the Popsicle stick in her hand as she read the answer to me. She's going to love it when she gets that history or science teacher in school that thinks they're funny because they memorize jokes from the Laffy Taffy candy wrappers. (We'll always remember you Mr. Swanson who dressed like and saluted Mr. Rogers.)
Fast forward to this week when we drive by a fenced yard not far from our house that has a donkey in it. I notice it and, in the same light and humor as reflected on above, I say "ass" in a tone that suggests I'm calling someone a jerk. My wife & kids are in the car at the time and my wife, who obviously didn't see the donkey surprisingly shocked asks, "What did you just say?" I explained the situation and, since our kids were in the car (at least for our 7 year old), turned in to a teaching moment about how sometimes words can have 2 different meanings and that this particular word is another name for a donkey as referenced in the Bible but today we more commonly just say donkey since we don't want to mistakenly swear (as kids sometimes call each other names of animals when pretending or just being mean ie; chicken, cow, pig, etc)
This of course led to how two words that sound the same can also have different meanings and one can be a swear word. So we asked the 7 year old, "What do you call that thing that beavers make that holds back lots of water?" Having recently learned about beavers at the library she knew the answer right away and answered, "Dam." We pointed out how it sounds like a swear word but it's not when used in the right context and then of course recounted our dam jokes from Missouri. We paused and several seconds passed and I looked back at my daughter with a look that seemed to indicate concentration and that the gears were spinning in her head. After a few moments we hear her say calmly but like she just figured something out, "Hey, that's funny. You should turn that into a joke."
My wife & I busted out with laughter at the delayed humor response from our wonderfully intelligent child. We had made these same jokes 2 months ago and she just now gets it. She didn't laugh though, it was just a response of sudden understanding. Perhaps she regarded it as the same kind and level of funny as the joke she recently read to me off of a Popsicle stick..."What is the most important thing to remember when going skateboarding?...A skateboard." Of course I didn't know it was supposed to be a joke when she asked me so I answered "helmet" as expected. I saw the Popsicle stick in her hand as she read the answer to me. She's going to love it when she gets that history or science teacher in school that thinks they're funny because they memorize jokes from the Laffy Taffy candy wrappers. (We'll always remember you Mr. Swanson who dressed like and saluted Mr. Rogers.)
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Life After Beach
I don't consider myself any kind of fabulous photographer. In fact I'm using a digital camera that's several years old. It's a Canon PowerShot A75 that's a whopping 3.2 mega pixels. Heck, the common cell phone today is just about up to that.
Anyway, I went walking on the beach early on the morning of my birthday this year while vacationing at Seaside, OR. I took several pictures of random, seemingly innocent shots. After reviewing them I decided they had a loose theme attached to them besides "gloomy cloudy morning on the beach".
For your consideration, amusement, and criticism, I offer to you a small collection I have appropriately dubbed, "Death's A Beach".
Some say, "Life's A Beach". I say there's opposition in all things and this is my photographic evidence.
Anyway, I went walking on the beach early on the morning of my birthday this year while vacationing at Seaside, OR. I took several pictures of random, seemingly innocent shots. After reviewing them I decided they had a loose theme attached to them besides "gloomy cloudy morning on the beach".
For your consideration, amusement, and criticism, I offer to you a small collection I have appropriately dubbed, "Death's A Beach".
Some say, "Life's A Beach". I say there's opposition in all things and this is my photographic evidence.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Growing pains
They say time flies when you're having fun. They reminisce and say "I remember when..." And they say "You'll never get those years back." Some of those years were hard, very challenging times and, while I appreciate how they've helped me become the person I am today, a part of me doesn't want some of those years back.
I have 3 daughters. Jennifer is 7, Sara is 5, and Anna just turned 2 this week. Anna has been starting to tell us when her diaper is no longer clean and fresh so we took this as a good sign that she's ready to start down the challenging road or potty training adventures. (Note the heavy sarcasm here.) Mandy has played the primary key role in this endeavor for each of our kids and previously for the 3 kids she helped raise when she was a nanny. So while I have played a supportive role, I am no stranger to "getting my hands dirty" so to speak in this task.
Jennifer was already potty trained when Sara was 18 months old and she, like many siblings, wanted to follow the example of her older sister, do what she does, go where she goes, and be grown up like her. Sara took the lead on initiating this process and did a fairly good job of ridding herself of diapers after about 3 days of practice.
While Anna has been giving signs that she's ready to take that leap from diapers to underwear, she's not as accepting of change and has difficulty letting it go in the scary water hole 2 feet off the ground where her legs dangle loosely. Even time spent on the training potty at her level that played a tune each time there was a deposit invoked a reaction that made you think the seat was made of ice cold razor blades that each rotated in place whilst at the same time alternating going up and down. (Yeah, it was that loud and that much of a fight as she struggled to run as far away as possible.) I can gladly say though that after one full week, only pull-ups go on at night, underwear stays on during the day, she typically lets us know when she needs to "go", and she's fairly comfortable sitting on "the big potty".
The whole point of this is that ever since Jennifer was born, we've almost always had to carry around this oversized bag that was meant to allow anyone to contend with any type of situation that could arise when away from the house, even if it was just a simple trip to the store. You've seen them, large enough to fit 2-3 adult human heads inside (don't ask how I know this). But what they really contain is something like 5 different outfits with even more diapers to for various times of the day, accidental messes (are there any other kind?), various items and methods for feeding and cleaning up after feeding the baby, etc. It's like a travel bag for a baby and if it were for an adult it would be good for a weeks vacation.
When Anna learned to walk that meant the end of always having to carry someone anyplace we went. Now that potty training is becoming a reality and it seems an end is in sight, the potty chairs can be disposed of and there's almost an end to the dreaded "diaper bag".
I have 3 daughters. Jennifer is 7, Sara is 5, and Anna just turned 2 this week. Anna has been starting to tell us when her diaper is no longer clean and fresh so we took this as a good sign that she's ready to start down the challenging road or potty training adventures. (Note the heavy sarcasm here.) Mandy has played the primary key role in this endeavor for each of our kids and previously for the 3 kids she helped raise when she was a nanny. So while I have played a supportive role, I am no stranger to "getting my hands dirty" so to speak in this task.
Jennifer was already potty trained when Sara was 18 months old and she, like many siblings, wanted to follow the example of her older sister, do what she does, go where she goes, and be grown up like her. Sara took the lead on initiating this process and did a fairly good job of ridding herself of diapers after about 3 days of practice.
While Anna has been giving signs that she's ready to take that leap from diapers to underwear, she's not as accepting of change and has difficulty letting it go in the scary water hole 2 feet off the ground where her legs dangle loosely. Even time spent on the training potty at her level that played a tune each time there was a deposit invoked a reaction that made you think the seat was made of ice cold razor blades that each rotated in place whilst at the same time alternating going up and down. (Yeah, it was that loud and that much of a fight as she struggled to run as far away as possible.) I can gladly say though that after one full week, only pull-ups go on at night, underwear stays on during the day, she typically lets us know when she needs to "go", and she's fairly comfortable sitting on "the big potty".
The whole point of this is that ever since Jennifer was born, we've almost always had to carry around this oversized bag that was meant to allow anyone to contend with any type of situation that could arise when away from the house, even if it was just a simple trip to the store. You've seen them, large enough to fit 2-3 adult human heads inside (don't ask how I know this). But what they really contain is something like 5 different outfits with even more diapers to for various times of the day, accidental messes (are there any other kind?), various items and methods for feeding and cleaning up after feeding the baby, etc. It's like a travel bag for a baby and if it were for an adult it would be good for a weeks vacation.
When Anna learned to walk that meant the end of always having to carry someone anyplace we went. Now that potty training is becoming a reality and it seems an end is in sight, the potty chairs can be disposed of and there's almost an end to the dreaded "diaper bag".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)