Category: domesticity

A New Year…Some New Stuff

Holy cow! I believe my wordpress.com page has changed three or four time since I last posted something of unimportance. I am a huge slacker in the blog world. My Twitter account is seeing all the action these days. Maybe I should look back on my ‘tweets’ and consolidate them into some sort of narrative longer than 140 characters.

Here’s the update: The Elder Extroverted Holy One is now the Reverend Elder Extroverted Holy One. Damn, her alias is getting longer. Maybe I’ll just call her “The Chosen”, or “The Truly Better Half.” How about “The Reverend Extroverted One?” That works for now…Well, The REO (awesome! “I can’t fight this feeling anymoooooorrrrrrrre”) was called to a church in Chattanooga and has since been ordained in the Presbyterian Church(USA) and is now serving that church. It’s a pretty cool small thang but with some great potential and I do believe that The REO is the youngest person there. tee hee

The Young Extroverted One is now firmly planted in a new school which is near our new house. It was a totally different experience dropping her off for her first day than her first day at the old school in east Nashville. But that’s for another post I suppose.

The Mullethead is now one year old and is doing great. Cruising around and standing on her own. We’re waiting for her to take some steps any day now. Look out world! When she can walk by herself I’m getting her a job! She needs to start earning her keep around here.

Speaking of earning one’s keep, I am no longer earning mine. I am back to being a full-time stay-at-home dad. My frequent tweets have changed dramatically from ‘doom and gloom’ to ‘rainbows and unicorns’. Sort of . . . those of you who follow me either on Facebook or Twitter would understand.

Selling our house in Nashville has been another issue entirely. The economy bit the big one right around the time we were getting our house on the market. And there it sits. All alone and empty. Waiting for someone to move in. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Something-d-o-o economics…anyone?

We are in a house that we really like in Ooltewah, TN but it’s only under a lease/purchase agreement. Basically, we’re renting it until someone buys our house and than we can buy this house. But since we’re renting the owners didn’t want us to have our pets here. So, Bosco, Maya and Aine (pronounced “anya” yeah, we’re weird) are living the good life at grandma Lucy’s house until we can buy this house. I don’t care much about the cats but I miss my dog. Sigh . . .

So, that’s us in a nutshell. Boring I know but that’s all I got for now. I would like to write more regularly on things that interest me in the future and hopefully I will. Until then? Just read this over and over again.

From the ‘Why Didn’t I Think of This’ File

Stephen Moseley over at CoolPeopleCare twittered his experiences of being a single parent for 36 hours. I am coming to the close of my time being a single parent and it is extremely hard especially when work and school is a factor. I would much rather have had the weekend to be the full-time daddy. Today, alone, I believe my head almost exploded three or four times. And that was just this morning getting ready to take the Young Extroverted One to work with me to get some things done before I took her to school.

Alright, the Elder Extroverted Holy One just called and said that she and the Bobblehead are leaving Montreat now. Hopefully, by the time I pick up the YEO we’ll be a complete family again. Single parents out there need some sort of huge award. Monetary in nature would be preferable.

Few and Far Between

It has been a very long time since I last wrote something. Heck, it’s been a long time since I’ve even climbed the stairs to my mancave to sit down at the computer. I get home from work and just want to be with my ladies and then I’m too tired in the morning to catch up on reading all my blog-friends.

I am settling in to my new digs. I have been assigned to a new hotel and have been promoted. Now, I’m just adjusting to the new surroundings, getting to know the hotel sales staff, cleaning this extremely messy office and evaluating the old gear and hopefully getting new gear. I cleaned out a desk file drawer the other day that had paperwork that went back TEN years! As I went through it all I got a little history lesson of the company I work for which was pretty cool. But one of the early directors of audio visual here kept everything.

Life with the new one (who shall be named ‘the Bobblehead’ until she gains some neck control) is going well. I have moved to the Young Extroverted One’s room and the Elder Extroverted Holy One and my room/bed has turned into the Girl’s Room. Whenever a diaper change needs to occur the EEHO to calls my cell phone from her cell phone and I go get the Bobblehead to change her diaper. It seems to work out well for we all (except for the YEO) get to share in the interrupted sleep patterns and the EEHO doesn’t have to wake up to feed the Bobblehead and change her diaper.

So much for co-sleeping. The only thing we’ve succeeded in was getting me my own bed.

Obligatory New Year’s Day Post

Not much going on here.  Just thought that I would drop a post to kick off 2008.

I don’t have much in the way of resolutions (other than to lose the gut that I’ve acquired) just a general sense of gratefulness. Grateful for surviving another year, grateful for the love of a wonderful woman, grateful for two beautiful daughters . . . basically, insert my Christmas post here. Or, just go back and read it.

Talking with the Elder Extroverted Holy One last night after the ball drop I was thinking out loud.  I figure Thanksgiving day would be more appropriate at the end of the year, during which a person looks back at the prior year (for better or worse) and looks ahead to the year to come.  I think that’s when one would be thankful and should celebrate with a big, fat meal to ring in the new year. At least, that’s the feeling I had last night as I looked over at my beautiful bride holding our second child as the Young Extroverted One slept in her bed (for the moment) . . . thankfulness.

The Joys of Cooking, Baking and Shaving Dogs

I made the realization the other day, as I was preparing a grilled shrimp over black bean and corn salad for the farm adventure, that I really miss cooking and baking.  The Elder Extroverted Holy One and I used to cook a lot before the Young Extroverted One made herself known.  When we were doing the vegetarian thing (up until the polish sausage incident during pregnancy) we made some extravagant meals.  Heck, I used to bake bread every week!

I’m not blaming the YEO for our lack of homecooked meals.  It’s just that now the dynamics are a little different.  In order for a more reasonable bedtime we need to have dinner at a certain time.  And I am usually wiped out from work. That leaves the EEHO, who is usually wiped out from schoolin’, picking up the YEO and keeping her entertained with snacks and whatever else fits her fancy at the time.  So, lately it’s been boxed prepared meals and Schwan’s(which is surpisingly good, by the way).

You see, I’m just a little more domestic than the EEHO.  If I were a stay-at-home dad like I was for YEO’s first year of life I’d be all domesticated.  The dishes would be done, laundry washed, dried and folded and our house would be clean (either that or I’d be wearing pearls, drinking wine, watching soaps and eating bon-bons.  Hmmm . . . that sounds kind of cool too).  Of course, in order for our house to be clean I would have to shave our two dogs and two cats but I’m up for that!

I guess I find some sort of meditative properties in the acts of domesticity.  Kind of Zen and the Art of Archery but I wouldn’t be shooting stuff.  It’s the process of prepping ingredients that go in to a meal or washing dishes by hand or even folding laundry.  All of these activities seem to center me.  It just seems I can find more meaning (?) in these things that I can do for my family and friends than I can in hanging chain motors, wrapping truss and raising said truss to show height for a Wal-Mart corporate gig.

I guess the EEHO needs to find some wealthy church to pay her so she can support my homely habits of housekeeping.