Son-day crash

Wowza.

What a week.

Well, the last couple days anyway. I want to start taking him on a dedicated field trip on Thursdays. Most of the time that will mean the Zoo because the zoo is awesome and I have a zoofriends membership and the zoo is awesome.

I also started including an art project into his week. This week was handprint art.

which was cool

He did better than I thought he would. I put him in one of my old shirts. He thought wearing "daddy shirt" was pretty cool.

it was also adorable

Saturday was crazy busy. I had to get up early to make cookies for the bake sale, shop the craft fair (I got something awesome, photos in a week or two), then head to Norman for a birthday party. Was a ton of fun and for the most part Jo did well. At the party, Jo started getting very fussy, but it was almost an hour past his nap time after a day of running around. Honestly, I don't blame him. I was tired and cranky too.

Today, we acknowledged the children's ministry volunteers at church. Jo really didn't do much with that (the older kids did). So we made sure to thank his teachers privately. He's really been doing well at during sunday school and at the MDO (or so I am told).

So we are very tired today and likely tomorrow may be a bit of a recovery day because Tuesday is State Fair day with Mommy (who will finish her 5th 12-hour shift in a row tonight). We are VERY excited she will be home for a couple days). The other day Jo said "where's mommy? she's working." to himself.

What a Son-day!

One of the most interesting things about being the SAHD is how much more time I get to spend with Mo. This is unexpected because part of the way this works is she works and extra 12 hour shift each week. (I spent a year doing 50+ hour weeks, it's tough and she's amazing). We kinda assumed that this would mean we either wouldn't see each other as much, or potentially even less.

But here's the thing. We only have to worry about her schedule. Jo and I are available more or less whenever she is. This means whenever she does have free time, we are good to go. We don't have to juggle my schedule or daycare or anything.

The only thing getting in the way is her homework. She is in her last year of this masters degree and it's no joke hard work and takes up some time. When she is done, we will be golden. For now, we do what we can.

But, the other day she woke up with Jo and got him fed so I could grab a couple minutes of sleep and shave in peace. When I was ready I told her I was ready to take Jo so she could get going on homework. Then this happened.

"I got that done when Jo was eating breakfast"

"What?"

"It's done for today, I got it done."

"go shower, we're going to the zoo. High five."

Then we went to the zoo.

And everything was awesome forever. 

Cranky Son-day

So we went to church on Sunday. Jo was kinda cranky in the morning, but not too bad. Then fell asleep in the car and slept through the first part of service. This was nice, and quiet, and sweet.

And could not last.

He woke up and was a complete pill through sunday school, the ride home, basically the rest of the day in general.

So, I figured, he was already upset and cranky. May as well cut his hair.

May have over done it.

Dad-time Son-day

This week Jo went to the new MDO. It was a rougher drop-off than I thought it would be. He loooooves the toddler room at school. It's actually pretty tough to get him out of there when church is over. However, it took a good bit to get him to detach and go to the room on Wednesday. His teacher told me he was mostly fine and did good with the other kids.

I never believe people when they say he did fine.

I mean, when I do stuff with him, like go to the store...

Yes, it's as big as him. Everyone in the store smiled. 

Or play outside in the water...

love that thing.

Or whatever, he does fine. Maybe 1 in 10 times he is fussy or difficult. But in my mind, 10 seconds after I leave a room, his eyes glow red and he is horrid for hours on end. Then, people are too nice to look at me and say "Sir, your son is the anti-christ, here is holy water...do what needs to be done."

But, no matter how good he is, I need some time just to myself. I think everyone does. Not everyone gets it, but they need it. Last night I was able to just go out of the house without him. Went to Game HQ. I never buy anything there, or stay longer than 20 minutes, but I like to poke my nose in every now and again. It was nice to just kinda get away for an hour or so.

Super-slide Son-day

We went to TX yesterday for Miles' birthday. We've been looking forward to it because it's about the only time we get to see the Hendrix.

well, that and the In-N-Out burger. 

We would have liked to have stayed longer, even overnight, but it just wasn't feasible. As it was we got back just in time to let mo get her homework done before homework. Mo has 11 months left till she is done with her Masters degree. That should free up our flexibility for awesome things like spending a weekend with the Hendrix.

The party itself was pretty normal for the Hendrix...

...and by "normal", I mean "awesome". 

They were, as always, amazing hosts and the company they keep is wonderful. Every time I go, I meet some new friend of theirs who is awesome. It was also good to see Jennifer and her kids.

Here are a few of the highlights as the party continued:
First, Jenn and Shonda went down the slide.

Then, Jack went down...fully dressed.

Then, the magic happened.

Science Son-day

Today Jo had his dental check up. He did okay. Some crying of course, but come on. How often do you go to the dentist and not want to cry a little? What's weird is he loves to play with the toothbrush the dentist gives him. Just carries it around with him. We don't use it for brushing, we have another one for that.

After the dentist I was going to take him to the playground at the zoo...but it was HOT and a little busy. So, I figured I would give the science museum a try. He may be too young, but...we'll see how it goes.

It went well. 

He was pretty skittish at first. Little confused, little overwhelmed. He would have happily spent the entire day going up and down the stairs. Guys, seriously, the science museum has so many stairs. I felt bad about skipping my workout today until I was on my 5th time up the stairs.

He finally got interested in things that were not stairs.

Then, he found more stairs...

All in all, it was a successful trip. The science museum is a little pricey, but for when the weather is unbearable, it's a good way to get Jo out of the house. The annual pass may or may not be worth it.

Staying Home Son-day

Most of my closest friends already know this, but many others do not. At the end of May I lost my job. Technically, the position simply ceased to exist. I'm not going to dig into the details or my financial stability (both are fine). That's just not something I want to discuss or a real concern.

A more interesting, and vastly more relevant, discussion answers the question "So what the hell are you gonna do now?" 

I don't really know. I've applied to some school jobs (school psych and various levels of administration) with no real success. Either I am not really considered or the offer is a bad fit. Job hunting is exactly zero fun. Mo suggested she make some career/job changes so that I could be a stay-at-home-dad. Right now, that is the most likely scenario.

This last month and a half has been, by a WIDE margin, the best six weeks of the past...six years or so. Jo still goes to daycare most days, but I spend way more time with him. I've gotten stuff done around the house I never expected to get done. I've freed up Mo's time and (hopefully) given her more time to rest and get homework done. I'm happy, relaxed, and feel better about basically everything. I'm losing weight like crazy (with absolutely no effort whatsoever). 

In short, I wish I had quit two years ago. 

It's a weird transition though. I have my daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal to-do lists. I have list of activities to do with Jo when we pull him from daycare. I have contact information for several mother's day out programs. (I've even made jokes about how completely sexist that term is). 

I think it will work out fine, and I'll keep job hunting for the right job. I'm even working on filing for unemployment benefits. I am not at all convinced it will be a long term thing. But, if it turns out to be...

I can think of worse ways to spend time.

Son-day Carnival of Evil

To keep myself busy in this oddly stage of my life I've begun doing just about anything there is to do. Chores mostly. Helped dad with some of his school stuff. Nothing major yet.

I took this week off work (which is basically a tomb) to do some job hunting, burn off my overwhelming amount of PTO, and get some house stuff done.

The last storm blew through and beat the roof up, they should be replacing that this week (a day or so of hammers, Hooray!). Around that Mo and I hope to get the kitchen finished (finally, it's been a year) and paint a few rooms. Looking forward do it. 

One of the things I did this last weekend was build a carnival game with my dad. It was for the school carnival down at Dove and it was clever. Basically, it's a shooting game where kids fire squirt guns at toilet paper until it cuts off and falls. Neat idea. Worked perfect until it was set up outside and the wind became an issue. We made couple adjustments and everything is fine. We'll box it in when we have the chance. We are hoping to build a few more, it was fun. 

But my mom had a clever idea to re-use it beyond the carnival. Basically the idea is to set it up for Halloween. Kids come tricker treating, great play the game, the kid who wins gets an extra piece. Then, have a donation box for Wounded Warrior, St. Jude's, Humane Society, or whatever. If you make a donation, you play for a full-sized candy bar and get a BIG squirt gun. Prolly load the squirt guns with red water and put zombies or something behind the toilet paper, just to make it gruesome. 

The face of genius. 

Time

A few years back I used to play world of Warcraft. Then I stopped playing. For about a week I had no idea what to do. I couldn't remember what I did with my time when I wasn't playing Warcraft.

Now, I am sitting here at my desk. I have no homework. Jo is hanging out with his grandma (she invited him over).

I have no idea what to do.

I'm not bored, and there is a plethora of things I could do. There always is. Anyone who says "there's nothing to do" has never been to a library and doesn't know that Project Gutenberg is a thing. There's plenty I can do. I own a house for heaven's sake. It's a 30 year old house, there is a ton to do. Most I can't afford, but there's stuff to do. But there is nothing I have to do. I can sit here and stare at the wall if I so please.

More to the point, I don't know what I want to do. I haven't had that luxury in so long I'm confused by the question. I can't even seem to generate options. I'm just sitting here like. "People sometimes choose what they do with their time?" These are of course strange people, wise enough to avoid grad school. I envy these people.

So, here's a picture of Jo. Mo sent me this picture before the MFT exam. Evidently, Jo was wishing me good luck.

Triumvirate of Emotional Extortion

These the the three greatest (worst) examples of emotional extortion in existence. Regardless of your views about any of them, you will happily hand over money to make the sadness stop. 

But it won't. 

They will haunt you for all time. If you can successfully watch all of them and feel no pang of anguish, no grief at the stark pain of reality, then I challenge that you are broken, wrong, and likely soulless. Potentially, you're just from Nebraska. To numb the the grey waste and unending bleakness to feel anything. 

Behold, The Triumvirate of Emotional Extortion!

First, I give you Linkin Park...somehow using their own brand of music to suck hope out of existence. (totally one of my favorite song now). 

Yup, listening to that on repeat...for a solid hour. 

Next is Sarah McLachlan, whose music can only be made sadder by adding animals. Adding abused, injured, sick animals is beyond the pale.  

This next one is not on You Tube that I can find. It was painful before I had a son. 

Now it is just agonizing.

Click HERE at your own peril. 

If you have viewed these videos and feel nothing, then I cannot pray for your soul. 

You don't have one. 

Resolute

Ugh, January. Fine, let's review. 2013 was a rough year for Jeremy. Although buying the house, my grad work, my dad's heart attack, and other miscellaneous events were enough to cause me great deals of stress, the greatest source of stress was my job. I don't like to talk about my work life on any kind of public forum unless it is a good thing. As such, I don't talk about my work life much on public forums. Suffice to say, I'm far from satisfied with how my work is going. 

Otherwise, most of the year's disasters had some kind of silver lining. 

Finding and buying the house was stressful, but I am pleased with the choice and I feel the price was fair. We got it for several thousand below appraisal value and our rates are decent. The house itself is generally well built, if dated. Most of what needs attention is cosmetic. I just hope the popcorn ceiling is not asbestos. 

I am almost done with grad school and met some wonderful people who I hope will be friends for years to come. The education itself has been life changing. 

Although the heart attack was absolutely horrid, my family is eating much better than we ever have. December was an expected mess of snacks and fats, but less salt than ever before. We've mentioned how we have a hard time eating out now, fast food is just soooooo salty. 

So let's take a look at the ol' resolutions of 2013. 

1. Get through the MBA program. 

Well, I switched to the 8-week courses option and those went surprisingly well. I was terrified they would absolutely cripple my ability to pass the classes. Not so, I had to sacrifice some other activities, but I think it is the best option. Only 1 more class. So, although I did not technically meet this resolution, I certainly lived up to the intention. 

2. Son-day posts every other week. 

This was one of the things I had to sacrifice. I just did not have the energy to keep up with the daditude blog. So, although many photos were taken, few were posted. Here's a picture of Jo on the thing my parents got him. 

He likes to 'go hide' in the bottom part. 

3. Attend either martial arts or fitness class once a week. 

For the most part, I pulled this off. During an exam week or other high stress week, I missed class. I also messed up my back for a couple weeks and missed then too. It sucked but it was another one of those sacrifices I had to make. I owe my instructors a huge thanks for their patience and understanding. In May, all this school non-sense is over and I will have free time to work out. horray!

4. Reduce my books by half. 

During the move, a bunch of books went to Half-price books. I added a few to my digital library, which I have no need to reduce. I've kept some of the best ones and although I would like to reduce my possessions further, I may be done with my books for now. It may not be half, but it feels like half. 

5. Save 30k toward the house down payment. 

We didn't quite reach 30k, I think we hit 27 or so. Turns out, we didn't need 30k. Let me tell you though, writing that check was crazy. Had we not moved on the house in 2013, we would have easily met this goal. Ultimately, a success to be sure.