Category: family life

The Parasite Arrives!

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Yesterday (12-19-2007) at 2:34PM (CST) the parasite arrived into the wild, wooly world that we live in.  She is a girl (if you didn’t catch the hint) and rings at 7 pounds, 15 ounces and 21 inches long. Both she and the Elder Holy Extroverted One are doing very well. In fact, people are very impressed that the EEHO was epidural-less.  She is certainly more of a tough one than I. While I did hold in there during the right moments I also spent some time with my head between my legs trying not to black out and/or puke. I will write more when I have a chance, I just thought the blog-world (all one or two of you) might want to know how the Introvert/Extrovert family are doing, right now I have to hold the former parasite (acronym to be forthcoming).  . . . . satisfied sigh . . . . 

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Top 10 Christmas Songs (at least for now)

h/t: brc for the inspiration from his post Bruce’s Top 10 Essential Christmas Albums

I’ve been meaning to post this for awhile but now that I’m in my advent time (waiting for both my new baby and the,”Dear 8 pounds 6 ounces baby Jesus, new born, not even spoken a word yet.”) I have some slightly anxious time to post about Christmas Tunes. There is no particular order. This is how they popped into my head.

  • “Linus & Lucy” by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, but I also have a sweet version from moe.
  • “The Twelve Days of Christmas” by Bob and Doug McKenzie from their Great White North album.
  • “The Spirit of Christmas” by Ray Charles off of the National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation Soundtrack
  • “Merry Christmas, Baby” by Otis Redding
  • “Christmastime is Here” by Richard Cheese which is on his Silent Nightclub album. The way that the Young Extroverted One times the ‘Yowza’ perfectly is what makes it the best for me.
  • “Must Be Santa” by Brave Combo on the Must Be Santa! The Rounder Christmas Album. I’m a little bit of a sucker for some polka.
  • “Mele Kalikimaka” by either Bing Crosby or Jimmy Buffett. I just love listening to the YEO try to sing this one. It makes me smile.
  • “This Time of Year” by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones from A Santa Cause – It’s a Punk Rock Christmas. I have no reason other than I dig the Bosstones and it’s a Christmas tune.
  • “Hey, Santa Claus” by The Moonglows. I found this one on the National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation Soundtrack. The YEO has this song down, also.
  • “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” as recorded by John Denver & the Muppets’ on their Christmas Together album. As a whole I don’t really like this album. Maybe, it’s John Denver, I’m not sure. However, this song has the great “Bring me some figgy pudding” line that Miss Piggy has an issue with. I love that part!

Thanksgiving Ruminations

Wow, where the heck have I been? I haven’t been getting much computer time at work getting the new director all trained and situated and I have been busy at home wrestling with a wall in the babies room trying to get it stripped, primed and painted.

The following is a post I wrote right after Thanksgiving and am now getting around to putting it up here:

I was sitting in the rec room of the Elder Extroverted Holy One’s mom’s house watching the Green Bay Packer game on turkey day. EEHO’s aunt, uncle and cousin’s were there watching as well. They’re from the West Virgina/Ohio area and are surprisingly Packer Backers. Unlike myself, who is contractually obligated to be a Packer Backer according to my birth certificate. But, it was nice to have some like-minded folks to watch the game with. As I sat there I looked around the room and said with my eyes glistening just a little, “This is just like being in Wisconsin with a house full of Beckers!” Well, except for the lack of stale cigarette smoke, drunk uncle with hands firmly clasped around my neck and other assorted showings of family love and bar paraphernalia. It was a good day with good food, good sports (not only did the Packers play but the Predators played as well.  I had to settle for watching it on T.V. because the EEHO wouldn’t let me go to the game) and good family.

“What’ll You Have?”

Toot Toot

Don’t mean to toot my own horn . . . but, I set up a room with some audio visual gear yesterday for a meeting that the hotel and their corporate folks are having today. As I stood in the room making sure presentations were working properly my set up got some nice compliments. It’s really not that big of a deal but when the director of sales is in the room and he is one of the reasons my company hired a different director it was kind of satisfying to show him what he’s losing. Not that it matters anymore because I hope the Nashville Doubletree will be better fit.

One other presenter was from the Renaissance Asheville (I’m not sure what her position there is). My company just listed a director position there that is open. Unfortunately, I can’t throw my hat into that ring because the Elder Extroverted Holy One has one more semester. Aargh! She wasn’t too happy with my idea of me taking that job to set up the homestead back in western North Carolina. Especially with the Young Extroverted One and a new human and school. With being at the Doubletree I’m kind of obligated to stick around for another year.

Oh well, <vague t.v. reference> “Missed it by that much.” <anyone get it?>

Movin’ On Up (or across town really)

My days here are numbered. The new director of event technology will start next week and for the next several weeks I will help him transition into this position. I’ll be training him until the Elder Extroverted Holy One brings forth the second child. During the delivery I will be in the corner of the room with an epidural and copious amounts of drugs to help us get through the delivery. With all of my saved up vacation time I will be able to stay home with the family and help with everything. It will end up being some great daddy-Young Extroverted One time as the new one learns what kind of crazy world it was forcibly brought into.

After the holidays and the new year I should be starting here. Where I will, hopefully, be the official director of event technology. So, I’m slowly finding my work getting me closer and closer to our home in the east Nashville area. Also, it puts me closer to the Sommet Center and the embattled Nashville Predators whose tickets I still can’t afford (not because they’re outrageously priced but we’re outrageously broke) but would go to every single game if given the chance.

Speaking of hockey, I got the YEO signed up for the G.O.A.L. program hosted by the Preds and Delta Dental of Tennessee. She’s excited about it or I’m excited about it for her. Maybe I’ll just go as her and get some ice time! Our equipment fitting session is this Monday and, unfortunately, we have to drive to the Southern Ice Arena in Franklin for this fitting and all 4 sessions of the program. Looking at past G.O.A.L. programs we missed the ones at the Centennial Sportsplex. Which would’ve been way closer. But then I think about the sacrifices that hockey greats’ parents made to drive their wunderkinds to their respective games and practices uphill both ways in the deep snow all across the Canadian wilderness and figure it’s not so bad driving down to Franklin except maybe for the exceptionally poor drivers the most Tennesseans are.

Parental Angst

The Elder Extroverted Holy One and I are having our second child in a MONTH! Um, wow. Numero two-Oh. The parasite’s room isn’t even ready yet. Who are we kidding? That thing is probably going to sleep with us. I suppose it’s time to turn our room into one big mattress. Ooo, a padded room sounds even better! Geez, the EEHO doesn’t even have a real job. I sure don’t get paid like I have a real job. Where did I leave my Xanax? Maybe I’ll have to start making plasma donations on my way to work. There always seems to be a line there it must be somewhat profitable. That might have to be my second job, trading my precious bodily fluids for money. I don’t know how multiple child families do it when we can barely handle one very precocious, extroverted child. I think my head’s going to explode.  Where did I leave my beer?


Life is Just a Tire Swing That Done Blowed Up

Parts of my day yesterday were interesting so I thought I’d share my good times.  On my way to my doctor’s appointment I was driving out of the parking garage at work.  I tend to take corners fairly close because other drivers love to speed through the garage taking wide turns.  However, this time I take a corner a little to close and scrape the pathfinder’s back passenger-side door.  It also left a nice bulge in the sidewall of my back left tire. Not good but wasn’t flat yet so I kept my eye on it through the day.

Doctor’s visit went well.  I think my beer baby is growing and is on track to take over The Elder Extroverted Holy One’s baby gut any day now.  I guess my doctor doesn’t think I’m morbidly obese or he would’ve said something. Right?

I get back to my car and the bulge is still there but the tire is still not flat so I head back to work.  After which I pick up the Young Extroverted One and head towards home.

The bulge finally gave up on Ellington Parkway.  So, I pull over.  I’ve changed a number of tires in my day but I have never had to change a tire in the pathfinder.  Sweet.  I, finally, remembered where the jack, wrench and other stuff were kept, but, I had no clue as to how to get the spare tire down from under the car.  At least I used it as a good learning opportunity for the YEO for I believe changing tires is one of many important skills females should know (unless they don’t want to).  So, here we are on the side of extremely busy Ellington, me looking through the car’s instruction book trying to figure out how to get the damn spare tire down from under the car and YEO asking me billions of questions. I tried not to play the men-don’t-read-instructions (truthfully, I usually don’t until I break something) card because, as parents, the EEHO and I are not into the specific gender roles game that society plays on kids.  I find the information I need and we move to the back of the car and lower the tire.  I then realize that I have the jack in the wrong place and can’t put on the spare tire because the car is not high enough.  So, I have to lower the jack and move it.  In the lowering process the open passenger door gets lowered into the guardrail and removes a decorative side thingy (and that is the technical term I saw it in the instruction book).  WOOHOO!  I am way jovial at this point.  Hey, at least I’m consistent with damaging only one side of the car!

I think we’ll have to change more tires for the YEO to really get it and for me to show how to do right.  She did get to raise the chain that holds the spare tire back up into the holding position.  She loved that doing that skill.

Holier Than Thou (or at least Holier Than Me)

Well, the Elder Extroverted Holy One just got a little holier. Back in August(?) she took ordination exams that are required by the PC(USA) to be called and ordained as a minister. After taking those things she had to sit around for a couple of months while Presbyterian monks locked in caves somewhere in Scotland read what she wrote. Apparently, they like what she wrote because she passed!

Now, she just needs to make it through this semester carrying a child (on the inside) and then make it through next semester carrying a child (on the outside) to graduate. Then some awesome church will want to call her to be their minister and by default I’ll end up being the churches a/v geek.

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The Tale of Employment Woes Continues . . .

Which has nothing to do with ‘The Man’ keeping me down.

But it seems that the hotel and PSAV higher-ups have interviewed a candidate for the position of which I am in right now. Thankfully, I knew about this ahead of time and was fully prepped by my boss that it was happening. Well, the hotel, apparently, liked this guy but I was told that they like me too. What is that saying about cake and stuff?

If they hire this guy and I stay he would be the director of a/v and I would go back to being a technician. I’m not quite sure what would happen to the current technician, maybe they would put him at the Gaylord Opryland. Which, if you are a floor technician, is not that cool of a job.

At the same time, though, I am hearing the Opryland PSAV rigging department is struggling and has been since I left to take the job I now have. I’ve been seriously considering going back to rigging to take care of that mess and wait for another director job to open up. My problem is that I feel that I need to be paid around what the other two guys are getting paid. Especially the rigging supervisor, who got a significant raise since I left. Which now doesn’t make sense if this guy doesn’t have the skills to keep the ship running. If I go back and straighten things out I should get a significant raise, too. Right?

It’s just that I’m a big wuss when it comes to confrontation and money. Deep down inside I know that I deserve it. The department ran well when I was there doing inventory, scheduling labor, along with some actual rigging. When I’m gone it falls apart. I need to do my own math I guess and point that out to my boss. But, also, on the surface we (the extrovert/introvert family) need an increase in my pay. There’s a parasite just waiting to stop feasting on it’s host (the Elder Extroverted Holy One), enter the world and eat my money (and that will cut into my beer money and as the Young Extroverted One knows, daddy doesn’t share beer)(I do, really, share beer. I can prove it 🙂 )! Which, as soon as EEHO graduates and gets a job won’t be that big of a problem. For now, though, we need me to get a more significant raise.