I am crispy. Burnt, Fried, Toasted, Crunchy. It has been summer and the past week has taken a lot out of me, including a 12 hour day, banging my head against the computer today. But, I'm trying to maintain my once a day blog schedule. Though, writing while my brain is in such a state does no one any good, and probably makes for some pretty unenjoyable reading on your part. I do plan on spending some time this weekend developing some post ideas and fleshing them out a bit.
If I can get 5 or 6 ideas that I develop in bits and pieces, kind of get ahead of it, then do believe that the quality will improve. However, I don't think that posting nightly will improve the quality. So - for now, I've decided to tweet links to my posts only for the posts that I feel warrant the time of others. As I develop more content, I will tweet the links more, eventually getting far enough ahead of myself to have some great content on a regular basis.
If you have experience blogging, and want to share some best practices or tips of the trade - PLEASE, share them in the comments!
Thanks in advance!
Friday, September 9, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Undefeated and loving it.
It's opening night of NFL Football and the Green Bay Packers are, at this point, the only undefeated team in the league. I like that. I like it a lot. It's been over 6 months - but tonight, it felt like the Super Bowl euphoria had never stopped.
I also realized that I have found a new favorite past-time, real time tweeting with other Packer fans. Honestly, I had more conversation tonight with other people, albeit in 140 characters or less, that I have in a long time. And with them I share a die-hard love of the team, as well as a fantastic sense of humor and a snarky sense of wit. We celebrate the successes and tear apart the refs, defense or coaching staff with their failures.
With a feeling of contentment, I go off to dreamland, looking forward to next week's game vs. Carolina and the conversation with my #Cheeseheads list to go with it.
#GoPackGo #YOTTO2
I also realized that I have found a new favorite past-time, real time tweeting with other Packer fans. Honestly, I had more conversation tonight with other people, albeit in 140 characters or less, that I have in a long time. And with them I share a die-hard love of the team, as well as a fantastic sense of humor and a snarky sense of wit. We celebrate the successes and tear apart the refs, defense or coaching staff with their failures.
With a feeling of contentment, I go off to dreamland, looking forward to next week's game vs. Carolina and the conversation with my #Cheeseheads list to go with it.
#GoPackGo #YOTTO2
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Why Don't You LISTEN TO ME!!!!
My kids are good kids, they usually listen well, behave and are pretty much always polite. Which makes me wonder why today, my final weekday off with them until next summer, they decided to become royal terrors.
Whining, crying, fighting, back-talking, screaming, demanding terrors.
Maybe it is because they didn't go to bed until 9p last night. Maybe it was because they have not had a regular schedule for the past week or so as we try to bridge the gap between daycare and Pre-K. Maybe I was in a piss poor mood and that colored my view of them. But man - what a day it was.
But - that's what parenting is all about isn't it? Taking the good days and the bad days and making sure the latter outweighs the former. Tomorrow, in the world of a four year old, life begins anew. There will be new chances to shine, new experiences to have and new trouble to get into. I have to learn how to let go of their day to day issues, and focus on them as a whole.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm a good father. I know that I am a good Daddy, but a father develops productive members of society. My Dad - as much as I love him, was more Ozzy Osbourne than Ozzy Nelson. But I think I turned out pretty good. So maybe there is a little room for error. We'll see.
Now I'm looking for your comments - oh wise 10 or so viewers - What is your favorite thing about your dad
Whining, crying, fighting, back-talking, screaming, demanding terrors.
Maybe it is because they didn't go to bed until 9p last night. Maybe it was because they have not had a regular schedule for the past week or so as we try to bridge the gap between daycare and Pre-K. Maybe I was in a piss poor mood and that colored my view of them. But man - what a day it was.
But - that's what parenting is all about isn't it? Taking the good days and the bad days and making sure the latter outweighs the former. Tomorrow, in the world of a four year old, life begins anew. There will be new chances to shine, new experiences to have and new trouble to get into. I have to learn how to let go of their day to day issues, and focus on them as a whole.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm a good father. I know that I am a good Daddy, but a father develops productive members of society. My Dad - as much as I love him, was more Ozzy Osbourne than Ozzy Nelson. But I think I turned out pretty good. So maybe there is a little room for error. We'll see.
Now I'm looking for your comments - oh wise 10 or so viewers - What is your favorite thing about your dad
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
And then there were 13.
Day 1 of Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet is in the books, 13 more days to go. In retrospect though, I should have started the diet after I went shopping. My pantry, at this point, should not be considered South Beach friendly. Dinner tonight consisted of low sugar baked beans and broiled Tilapia, not horrible, but far from gourmet fare.
Full out shopping will occur tomorrow - but the the question remains, will I force my entire family on my diet in order to make life easier for me? The kids will want all manner of junk food tomorrow when I take them shopping, but I think that due to my inability to control myself (as soon as a thought of food enters my head, I kind of obsess about it until I can eat - yeah, I know. Issues) I will try to limit their snacks to fruits and vegetables. Will see how that goes.
Wish me luck!
Full out shopping will occur tomorrow - but the the question remains, will I force my entire family on my diet in order to make life easier for me? The kids will want all manner of junk food tomorrow when I take them shopping, but I think that due to my inability to control myself (as soon as a thought of food enters my head, I kind of obsess about it until I can eat - yeah, I know. Issues) I will try to limit their snacks to fruits and vegetables. Will see how that goes.
Wish me luck!
Monday, September 5, 2011
TGI Labor Day
Thank God It's Labor Day!
For the majority of Americans, Labor Day is a sign of the end of Summer or a harbinger of the upcoming stress of school. Cooler weather, shorter days and snow are on the way once you hit Labor Day and many people hate the holiday because of the sadness it brings to their life.
I, on the other hand, welcome Labor Day. In a job that requires 6 day, sometimes 70 hour work weeks between Memorial Day and Labor Day, this holiday signifies the return to some sort of normalcy. The ability to see my family on a regular basis, the time to actually put together a semi-regular schedule, the knowledge that for the most part I can count on plans/events/schedules not being interrupted by work.
Am I overstating the time my job takes up over the summer? Possibly - but when you are on the back end of the summer I have had - it's not unusual. It has been a rough season of issues, challenges, roadblocks, a ton of hard work and many sacrifices. Sacrifices not only made by me, but my family as well.
Here I sit - on the eve of 7 months of semi-normalcy, thinking about what I want to accomplish in that time. Tops on my list are the 5 original goals that I have laid out for myself:
1. Become healthier (i.e. Lose Weight, Exercise more, etc).
2. Be a better Daddy (spend more quality time with the kids, be a better example)
3. Spend less time in front of a screen (TV, Computer, phone, etc)
4. Consume less, Save more (I, like many, have fallen into the credit trap - need to get OUT!)
5. Keep work at work and home at home (sounds like a given, but believe me - it's not)
I have realized the need though to develop strategies to accomplish these goals. So over the next few days I will develop a plan of strategies and tactics to accomplish these goals. The first strategy that I will enact to meet goal #1 is diet plan. One of the tactics I've chosen is to go back on a modified version of the South Beach Diet - starting tomorrow. Last time I started the diet (January 1, 2011) I lasted 4 weeks then went on a "day off" that never ended. I had lost over 20 lbs, and now I've gained that, and more, back. Another tactic that I plan to use in the battle of the bulge is the Lose It app. The app makes weight loss a social activity and helps keep track of your eating habits and supplies great tips and information to help your diet along. I'm hoping that through the combination of the two, my diet will be semi-successful.
As I develop other strategies and tactics, I hope to flesh them out on the blog. I've also decided that I need to do a better job of planning out the blog and developing content for it. While sitting here in my living room at 11pm each night hammering away at the keyboard is the easiest way to do it, it is not the most effective, or successful. I hope to look through some other self help, health and development blogs to find not only content, but like minded bloggers that I can interact with.
If I am going to achieve my goals, I need to hold myself accountable and hopefully thinking that other people may hole me accountable as well, might help me keep myself in check.
Happy Labor Day!! :-)
For the majority of Americans, Labor Day is a sign of the end of Summer or a harbinger of the upcoming stress of school. Cooler weather, shorter days and snow are on the way once you hit Labor Day and many people hate the holiday because of the sadness it brings to their life.
I, on the other hand, welcome Labor Day. In a job that requires 6 day, sometimes 70 hour work weeks between Memorial Day and Labor Day, this holiday signifies the return to some sort of normalcy. The ability to see my family on a regular basis, the time to actually put together a semi-regular schedule, the knowledge that for the most part I can count on plans/events/schedules not being interrupted by work.
Am I overstating the time my job takes up over the summer? Possibly - but when you are on the back end of the summer I have had - it's not unusual. It has been a rough season of issues, challenges, roadblocks, a ton of hard work and many sacrifices. Sacrifices not only made by me, but my family as well.
Here I sit - on the eve of 7 months of semi-normalcy, thinking about what I want to accomplish in that time. Tops on my list are the 5 original goals that I have laid out for myself:
1. Become healthier (i.e. Lose Weight, Exercise more, etc).
2. Be a better Daddy (spend more quality time with the kids, be a better example)
3. Spend less time in front of a screen (TV, Computer, phone, etc)
4. Consume less, Save more (I, like many, have fallen into the credit trap - need to get OUT!)
5. Keep work at work and home at home (sounds like a given, but believe me - it's not)
I have realized the need though to develop strategies to accomplish these goals. So over the next few days I will develop a plan of strategies and tactics to accomplish these goals. The first strategy that I will enact to meet goal #1 is diet plan. One of the tactics I've chosen is to go back on a modified version of the South Beach Diet - starting tomorrow. Last time I started the diet (January 1, 2011) I lasted 4 weeks then went on a "day off" that never ended. I had lost over 20 lbs, and now I've gained that, and more, back. Another tactic that I plan to use in the battle of the bulge is the Lose It app. The app makes weight loss a social activity and helps keep track of your eating habits and supplies great tips and information to help your diet along. I'm hoping that through the combination of the two, my diet will be semi-successful.
As I develop other strategies and tactics, I hope to flesh them out on the blog. I've also decided that I need to do a better job of planning out the blog and developing content for it. While sitting here in my living room at 11pm each night hammering away at the keyboard is the easiest way to do it, it is not the most effective, or successful. I hope to look through some other self help, health and development blogs to find not only content, but like minded bloggers that I can interact with.
If I am going to achieve my goals, I need to hold myself accountable and hopefully thinking that other people may hole me accountable as well, might help me keep myself in check.
Happy Labor Day!! :-)
Friday, September 2, 2011
Sitting on the fencepost...chewing my bubble gum
Getting older sucks. There - I said what everyone over the age of 35 has been thinking. In my head - I'm still 25. I wish that I could say that in my head I'm still 16 or even 8, but life has beaten me down a bit as of late. I used to be fun, happy and go lucky all the time. But over the past five years, I feel that I've been pushed, pulled, prodded and poked into a semi-cynical state.
I do believe I have found the cure of Codger-itis or as it is more commonly known - Old Fogey Syndrome. The cure is my children. I spent a one day vacation at Jellystone Campground outside of N. Java, NY yesterday and though I have been in my funk - for a day I was able to play on the swings, do cannonballs in the pool, squirt the giant squirt guns at each other and sing campfire songs (I've heard "Hermie the Wormie" about 50 times since we left, a capella from my boy.).
The time that I spent with my wife and kids yesterday - one full day of just me and them - including my daughter's first canoe ride with me, re-affirmed my need for goal #2 - Become a better daddy. It did my heart, mind and soul wonders to spend the day with them.
So I'm going to do it again on Sunday - but this time - I'm going to leave the cell phone in the car. I wish I could leave it at home, but that won't happen as with all addictions, withdrawal symptoms would occur. But it will happen, eventually. A smartphone, computer, TV free day (I'll pre-write and schedule my post!) - and I'll be glad for it.
I do believe I have found the cure of Codger-itis or as it is more commonly known - Old Fogey Syndrome. The cure is my children. I spent a one day vacation at Jellystone Campground outside of N. Java, NY yesterday and though I have been in my funk - for a day I was able to play on the swings, do cannonballs in the pool, squirt the giant squirt guns at each other and sing campfire songs (I've heard "Hermie the Wormie" about 50 times since we left, a capella from my boy.).
The time that I spent with my wife and kids yesterday - one full day of just me and them - including my daughter's first canoe ride with me, re-affirmed my need for goal #2 - Become a better daddy. It did my heart, mind and soul wonders to spend the day with them.
So I'm going to do it again on Sunday - but this time - I'm going to leave the cell phone in the car. I wish I could leave it at home, but that won't happen as with all addictions, withdrawal symptoms would occur. But it will happen, eventually. A smartphone, computer, TV free day (I'll pre-write and schedule my post!) - and I'll be glad for it.
This is not my son, he would be singing at TOP VOLUME - but this is the closest I could find to the version that they taught at Jellystone. You get the idea. Woooo Wooooo!
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