Hell to the What?

The Algebra

Well my oldest, the 14-year-old, seems to not care about school. I can't really say that, she doesn't care about algebra. Otherwise she is doing great. So how do I make her understand/like/ingest math? I don't know, and my wife doesn't know either.

See last year she was recommended to go to Algebra, an advanced class, one that will give her high school credit. I'm kind of leery of that anyway, but went along with it because she said she was ready for it. Now it turns out that maybe she isn't.

I have my own demons in the subject of algebra. I was taking it when I was her age, transferred to Mississippi and suddenly was not taking it, then the next year they put me in pre-algebra, then the next year I got a horrible teacher and algebra, and failed... miserably. The next year I got a different algebra teacher, and amazingly I got an A in the class.

So I know what a difference a teacher makes, I also know if you are not open to trying to learn, nothing can help you. So now I have to struggle with whether to pull my kid out of the class, or put the clamps down on her. What to do what to do...

Baby Shower Goodness

And so, we had our baby shower over the weekend. It was a great time, with good friends, and I really can't thank the people responsible enough. You see the "cake" above? Made with diapers, weird huh? Anyway, it did my wife good to see people that care about her.

I became the champion of the poopy diaper contest, who would have thought otherwise?

A New Bed

So you see it right? It is my 3-year-old's new bed. It isn't just the baby getting new stuff around here. I will say that it took hours to put this thing together, which is much, much longer than I thought it would. It went in with a fair amount of cursing and we had to go back and take it apart more than once, but all and all it was a good thing... Sorta'.

There was a fair amount of hemming and hawing over it, whether or not it was the right kind, shape, color, all of that stuff. We got it now, and it looks pretty good. There was a bit of a learning curve in my daughter moving up from a toddler bed. Falling out and bumping her head, but it's all just part of the deal.

Wheels

Here is a song from the Foo Fighters called "wheels". It is a good song, but I am partial to the Foo Fighters. This is going to be on their Greatest Hits CD in November. Now you can say you heard it here first.

No Movie

No movie today, it has been a rough week this week. In fact it "might" kind of light around here blog-wise until the baby is born... in 1-3 weeks. It has just been like that lately. Plus it is premiere week on TV, not that it means that much to me... but I am not alone. So I'm hoping to watch and review a classic film soon, but you just never know...

She's a Beauty...

So me and the wife were having a conversation the other day on the way to the doctor. We started talking about 80's songs and videos because, ultimately everything revolves around music doesn't it?

Anyway we come to this, a video by the Tubes. She's a Beauty. Isn't she? My wife told me that they (her family) used to give her brother (the same age as me) so much crap... razzings, bustings and whatnot because, she's one in a million...and quite frankly "he couldn't peel his eyes off the screen and the drool was just gross." Or so my wife says. Enjoy!

Drats, Picked the Wrong Seat Again...

Not So Festive

I went to the Hardeeville Catfish Festival over the weekend. It was something to behold, ok not really. 1st off I thought it would be a bit cooler than it was, but I was literally panting and I really couldn't even talk. Maybe I had some latent effects of the stroke, or maybe it was just that hot.

They had some carny rides, pony rides, and food, but it just wasn't hitting me right. I think it was the lack of trees, or maybe it was the fact that I had to leave my better half at home, who knows, but we just didn't have any fun.

There was supposed to be a mascot of sorts, a Mr. Whiskers was to make an appearance but, we never saw him. We did ride the ponies (well the 3-year-old did) and we were going get something to eat, but I just wasn't feeling it either. So what did I do? Called home and picked up some drive-thru. Not exactly festive, but good all the same.

My Beard

I've been growing out off my goatee and have settled for a full beard. Ok not really, at least, not yet. But I do have enough of a beard for the 3-year-old to notice. She pets it when I take her to bed. It is like a two handed type maneuver, in that she pets both of cheeks. I like it... because I just do.

I decided to grow a beard for many reasons such as...

1. I won't have to shave in the morning, taking precious moments to instead get my daughter ready for school, and since my wife is on bed rest, every second counts.
2. I wanted to either get the full beard, or shave it all off... I know that sounds weird, but it is true.
3. I think this will give me a more fatherly look. Not that I need to look more like a father, but sooner or later, you can't look like a spring chicken anymore. Besides, I'm not looking for anything (women, cars, like I have loads of money).
4. Because my father had a beard, he would still have one, but the radiation treatments took that away (he had cancer a while back but has recovered for it)

I'm sure I could go on. Like how I like ZZ Top, and 2/3 of them had wicked beards. But anyway, I'm growing it because I just want to see if it will look good on me. We'll see, in another week or so... hopefully. and I won't have to worry about ever getting this for Christmas...

Granted Reprieve

My wife had a small reprieve from bed rest the other day. That is pretty big news when all you can do is go to the doctor or go to bed. So what was the reprieve? Well first she got permission from the doctor, because if anything, my wife is a stickler for the rules. She asked if she could go to Target and ride one of those cart/scooter type things and do some baby shower looking/zapping. Target has this thing where you can register for a baby or bridal shower and they give you a zapper thing, and you can wander around see something and zap it. It instantly gets added to your registry.

Pretty cool huh?

So anyway, my wife is putt-putting around, with her best friend, looking at diapers and tiny shoes and dresses and boppy's and bumbos and anything else that her heart desired at the time. She was telling me what a dog her scooter was and I told her "Well, you can't expect a Ferrari". And she concurred and she told me about how she almost got into two different accidents, even though "it is a dog". One was a minor curb scrape, the other involved taking a whole rack of baby clothes with her a few feet. I think the extra laughs probably did her well too.

Don't Worry... Be Happy

We are all pulled a bit thin these days. I have about 1&1/2 hours added to my commute, plus I have to cook, or otherwise provide a meal everyday, the 14-year-old has to pick up slack around the house, and the 3-year-old has to put up with me taking her to bed, giving her a bath, getting her dressed... every single day. It is a bit rough, but I try (sometimes I fail) to keep things upbeat.

Meanwhile my wife is suffering debilitating headaches, bouts of vertigo, and feeling very hot. I don't think I would trade with her, I mean, being on bed rest sounds nice, until you actually have to go through it. Plus you have a certain condition to warrant bed rest. Why a doctor can't say "Hey you need bed rest" for a sniffle nose or anything, well it's just because.

So nobody has any time hardly at all. Not fun, but I guess when you put in perspective, it isn't all that bad. My 14-year-old will learn that hard work eventually pays off, my 3-year-old will learn to put up with daddy a little more, and my wife and I will have another bundle of joy. So be happy is all I'm saying... I think.

Classic Film Friday: A Farewell to Arms

My wife has got this week's classic film, as she has some free time to watch a movie and tell about it, so enjoy...

I watched the 1932 film adapted from the Ernest Hemmingway novel. I actually vaguely remember reading this book in junior high school. But that didn't make watching the film any less new. I guess given that junior high was some 25 years ago, that's understandable.

The story starts a bit slow for me especially since I am not all that in tune with war dramas. However, once you fall in love with the characters falling in love, you'll be hooked. Frederic, an American ambulance driver in the Italian Army (Gary Cooper) meets Catherine, a nurse for the Red Cross (Helen Hayes) once evening and instantly have a liking to one another despite Rinaldi (Adolphe Menjou), Frederic's best bud having seen her first. Frederic and Catherine end up spending a night of intimacy together under the stars, which she reveals shortly thereafter to have been her first time.

As we get to see Frederic and Catherine's love grow and how vindictive Rinaldi can be as he tries to keep his drinking buddy, it is easy to get wrapped up in their lives. I found myself hoping he would desert the army to go and find her...and cursing that damn Rinaldi. I won't spoil the ending, just in case you haven't read or watched it...yet.

There are a few scenes in the story when an obvious length of time is passing and events are suggested by symbolic bells ringing and war scenes flashing...but I guess that is how you fit the whole novel into an hour and a half. With an almost one-night-stand, an unwed pregnancy, desertion from the army during war...this story has a lot of shocking turns for it's time. Ya gotta love Hemmingway.

The Party

So, in case anyone was wondering (which you are probably not, but still), my daughter's birthday party, the now 14-year-old, went off without a hitch. But it was pretty easy since with teenagers you give them food and let them be, and the party is instantly a hit. Still, my daughter's party actually had people, which wasn't always that way.

They sat around, watched a movie, and later played Guitar Hero. Hell they filled up with the candy, popcorn, and pizza rolls, so much that they didn't even want cake. So a good time was had by all. Even my wife, who is on bed rest, enjoyed herself...(from afar, in another room, laying down of course).

It makes me happy when my daughter is happy, so she was ecstatic. Overall a great party and a possible ice breaker to have more friends over, or her going over to a friend's. As always, we'll have to see if or how it all pans out.

Preperation H Alternative

Puddles

Yesterday afternoon my daughter and I attempted to mow the lawn. We were 3/4‘s of the way through when all of the sudden the wind blew cool and the sky darkened. Rain was on the way. When the wet stuff got to our house, it came down in buckets. We ran inside and watched the water pool up in the street and our freshly cut backyard quickly became a moat.

As luck would have it 2 of our dogs had to go “potty”. The rain slacked up some but there was no getting around the sloppy wet dog syndrome…or the even less desirable alternative of a doggy accident. Rather than let the dogs run around in the moat out back and get all muddy not to mention further wreck the yard, I opted to take them for a walk. This was as much an effort in damage control as it was a guilty pleasure to delve back into childhood momentarily.

I had forgotten how much fun it is to walk through the warm puddles of a summer rainstorm. It’s hard to worry about gas prices, traffic, or work when your dog is shaking off in your face or you’re knee deep in water hoping to make your walking partner just a little bit wetter. And while the 4-legged jury was still hung on the whole walk in the rain and puddles thing, my daughter and I both agreed that splashing barefoot through the water is way more fun than cutting grass. When we got home, I returned to adulthood but it was great fun tromping though puddles without a care.

I hope it rains again today.



Note: This entry was originally posted on 8/03/2005 (which is now gone, the blog entry)... but with being her birthday, and everything, it reminded me and thought I'd re-post it here. We don't live in that house anymore but still, it was a happy time, and we have our own memories to make... but still we need to remeber the past...

So What Else You Got?

I know that everyone is all up in arms about healthcare, heck I am too. I still don't know what this will cost me, or what if anything it will or won't do. I'm frustrated and confused. Is this a healthcare bill or an insurance bill? Anyway I wonder sometimes about doctors.

You see my wife is on bed rest. That pretty much means, in the bed only get up to take a bath or go to the bathroom. That is it. And they want her to see them (the doctors) twice a week. So that means someone will have to drive her, and what about the waiting room? With no bed in there? Hmmm, last time we "waited" for over an hour. So that isn't bed rest or is it?

I find myself becoming more hostile towards anyone who is supposed to be "helping" me. I don't want to be that way, but it is slowly turning out that way. I guess they (the doctors) have to be so strict because if they weren't some dumbass would die or something, I won't, hell I can't.

When I told my wife "I'm like a cockroach, you really can't kill me." she said, "well that is a good thing, otherwise I would have never met you." I have at least 5 different near death experiences (bacterial meningitis, bicycle accident, car accident, diabetes, and stroke) not counting a whole lot more close calls (near accidents and such), and a naked, fat, black woman's ass in my face.

So whether or not this healthcare bill passes or doesn't I think I'll live. Because I've already had just about everything thrown at me, (I think) what else could they possibly do to me that hasn't already been done?

What is the Word?

What? I saw this truck with a "Jesus is the Word" sticker. I cannot disagree more. Everybody knows that the bird is the word. Not to take anything away from Jesus, I'm just saying...

Just a Man

You would think that things would get easier with time, but not so, at least not in the baby making department. My wife has been put on bed rest, and admitted to the hospital with preeclampsia. I thought that this was a problem with 1st born kids, not so much with the 2nd kid, but if there is an exception to the rule, I usually fit it.

And so it is with this pregnancy. It sucks, really, really, sucks (hard) but what are you going to do? The only cure for what ales her is to force the baby out. Which is 9 weeks too early. Or so they tell me. And if they force her to have the baby this soon, it means more than a few trips to Charleston.

I am reminded of my first kid, she was a natural birth baby, you know the pain a woman goes though, the crazy driving of the man trying to get his wife to the hospital, all that stuff seems taken away by a c-section. But again, I'm just a man, I have no idea what my wife is going through. I just want everyone to be ok, to be safe and healthy. That is it.

Classic Film Friday: Carrie

This film, based on a Stephen King book, is about a girl, who just isn't all the way there. Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) is a telekinetic, though she doesn't really know it, she is in the showers at school, and wouldn't you know it, she has her period for the first time and freaks out. Because her mother is a Jesus-freak, she doesn't know what is happening with her body, and thus all the other kids do, but tease her.

It gets relatively ugly, pretty fast. Without anyone to talk to, no father, no friends, and a whacked out mother, what is a kid to do? The Gym teacher Miss Collins (Betty Buckley) is her only support network. Maybe because she remember what it was like to be a kid, or maybe she was just a nice person, Miss Collins tries to watch out for Carrie.

But then one of the "in" crowd Sue Snell (Amy Irving) feels bad and tells her boyfriend to ask Carrie to the prom. Which would all be good, except there is deceit afoot. Chris Hargensen (Nancy Allen) and her boyfriend Billy (John Travolta) plan to let Carrie win prom queen, as they have a bucket of pig blood to dump on her and thus publicly embarrass Carrie. And that is when her telekinesis takes over, watch and see the fireworks go off in this 1974 horror classic.

Palm Tree

So I got me a tree, a palm tree, for $35 bucks. It is a Pygmy Date Palm, which as the name implies is a smallish tree. It is also a thorny tree. But anyway we planted...



...and here is the finished product... which took a lot of dirt. Like a lot of dirt. And so...

This is probably the closest money-wise that I will ever get to palm trees, though I do like the queen palm but I hear they tend to fall down during a hurricane. So this is my only foray into palm trees.

His What?

The Last Time

So, I took that mother out. Labor Day was as good a day as any. The "last day" of summer and I burned it till I really couldn't burn no more. It lasted a year, and it was worth every penny. Good bye charcoal grill, may your replacement last as long, or longer than you...

This Whole Mess With the Budget

I am going to play my wife, because she will not come on and say what needs to be said. Look here and here if you're wondering what I'm talking about. My wife is National Board certified. She is also in one of those positions that was created by Val, the coach jobs. Like many other people, I didn't know what all of this entitles, let me attempt to explain.

The National Board perk as it was called, was a leveling of the field, sort of... You see those states that are in the upper echelon when it comes to testing already pay a higher salary, and by offering this $2,400 to qualified teachers, the hope was that we will get a better teacher, maybe even lure some away from those high performers. Look here, with the increase by becoming NBPTS certified, the difference is not so much. What will happen if they decide to cut that 'perk' out? You will find that many teachers will go elsewhere thus robbing Beaufort County of it's best teachers. I don't think that is what we want.

And the coach jobs? They don't pay more or less than any other teacher. If you have a math, or 2nd grade teacher or a coach. They all make the same, provided they have the same amount of time in service and college. What they do is coach, teach the teachers, without reporting to the principal. My wife loves it. She doesn't just teach 15-30 kids, she teaches the entire school potentially.

I don't know what if anything can be done to save tax monies, but getting qualified people and finding a way to promote them, without actually paying them more (coach jobs) is a good thing. Is there is something to cut, undoubtedly, but let's remember, they passed the last two referendums... you had to know that was just the beginning. It is going to cost more to operate 2 schools than 1 overcrowded school. It just is. That wasn't as concise as my wife put it to me, but maybe somebody will at least understand why it was done that way.

Oh yeah... Happy Labor Day!

Bad Karaoke... Yeah

So what I got for my birthday, didn't exactly pan out. It was a zoom lens, and it worked, but you could not auto focus, and really, who would attempt to manually focus on something so far away? You wouldn't, so it went back, and because of a long drawn out thing, Amazon would only give me store credit, so it put my hopes of trying a zoom lens on permanent layover.

But that was months ago... And I went and bought the new Guitar Hero 5 with my store credit. It probably has the most songs yet. Though there is a problem with downloadable content, I'm sure that will be solved soon. Fixed. It has a lot of songs from when you were drunk and thought you could sing. You know what I'm saying right? Yeah you know...

Rumble in the Jungle

I had a moment the other day, and by moment I mean a time of profound thought. It was during the night, my wife had gotten up to pee or whatever (because you can't tie a pregnant woman down) and I was alone. I hear this ruckus... what is all this ruckus I say to myself.

It was the dogs, put safely away in their kennel, what the hell? It was one dog, the female who goes a little nuts when it starts thundering outside. And poor hairless dog, who takes the rain and thunderstorms with ease. She was attacking him for whatever reason. But it was over as soon as it begun. Whether it was because he got the better of her (as he does any other time) or sense got the better of her, it stopped.

But my wife, napping downstairs because I cannot convince her that I'll be fine, it is the "pleaser" in her, anyway, the dogfight has woke her up, and she covers the dogs with a blanket, and comes back to bed.

What is the profound thought? Why do I have dogs anyway? The hairless one pees on everything, the hairy one freaks out at just about anything, why do I do this? I don't know, but the dogfight reminded me of cat fights under my house in New Orleans. They would last about as long, you would never find the offending party, and they would wake you up, just as you were falling asleep. Pets, phooey!

Classic Film Friday: Thunderhead - Son of Flicka

This 1945 Classic is one for the whole family. It is about a boy and his horse. How could you not like that? Ken McLaughlin (Roddy McDowall) is a boy on a ranch and he wants to race horses, so much so that he takes his mare to a neighbor's ranch to get her knocked up as it were. The problem is, the baby is white, the mother is brown, and the father is black.... huh?

So already there is a question of "who the baby's daddy?". It turns out that there is an albino horse that has been giving all the area ranchers fits in that he "steals" the mares and makes them his own. The ranchers can't seem to catch him, so they've resolved to shoot him. Well, of course this is the real father, implied, never actually proven.

Will Goblin, (Thunderhead) become a race horse, or does the Albino have more of a role to play in his future? You'll have to watch and see for yourself, and you can see the whole movie on YouTube if you like. :o)

Two Weeks

So I've been on twitter now about two weeks. My take on it? It seems useful, but it also can be somewhat silly. Spammers are all over that medium. So if you take out the 'girls' that want a date or whatever I'd give it a low A or high B. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with twittering per say, but the spammers can ruin pretty much anything.

But it opens me up to what other people are saying/doing, kind of like that whole BT thing when it first started. It is easy is what I guess I mean, no blog to setup, no website to create or maintain, hell you can only say so much anyway, so it is golden. I really don't see how they are ever going to make money with it, but that is for somebody else to worry about.

Do I recommend getting on twitter? Yeah, sure go ahead. I mean, if I don't like you I can stop following you, if I'm following you now, well then, there you go. I don't like how simple it seems, but you gotta play with the hand you got. And maybe I'll add a list of tweets or something...

We've All Been There... Right?

The State of Things

Well, after a few weeks of being back to school (not me personally), I can say things have gelled together... kind of. My 13-year-old still has some drama issues, mostly over the uniforms, to which I tell her, it really is not my fault, or my wife's fault, so get over it already. I went to the Open House, and much like I suspected, it really wasn't worth going. I mean, the teachers all got up, gave their spiel, and it was over, usually late, because all they had was 15 minutes. The science teacher impressed me the most. She broke everything they will be learning into bite sized bits, easy for someone (like me) that hasn't been in school forever ago, to understand.

My wife got some much needed recognition... From all the way up the district. I always knew that she deserved it, it was just that she was in a toxic work environment at her last school. There was way too much back scratching and favors at that place. Now that she is in a new place, maybe she can realize her full potential. It also makes my life a little better, since she has a much nicer day at work, she comes home in a sweeter mood. So it is a win-win.

Me and the diabetes thing, well it is always an issue. If I get up and out, do something... and I watch what I eat/or give myself just the right amount of insulin, then I'm good, if not then I'm not so good. It is a balancing act that I will have until I die, which is no different from anybody else, it is just that most people have a working pancreas, that does that for them.

And other than that, I don't think I could ask for anything else. We are happy, the kids are doing good, and some of us are getting the rightful recognition they deserve. What more could a guy want?