Street Survey

Surveyor: "May I ask you three simple questions?"
Me: "Sure, but I'm not a local if that matters at all."

Surveyor: "Great. What is the first thing you notice about me?"
Me: "I don't know...(I'm looking directly at his Scientology jacket)...you're wearing glasses."

Surveyor: "Okay. Do you believe that people are working harder today than 50 years ago?"
Me: "No."

Surveyor: "How do you think Barack is doing?"
Me: "Barack who?"

Surveyor: "Brack Obama."
Me: "I don't know."

Surveyor: "Thank you."

How would you answer these questions? I'm sure I didn't help his scientific research survey.

Some Random Things About Me

Here are a few things that may help you get to know me better.

1. I still get that tingly feeling in my stomach when I hold Heather's hand (we've been married seven years).
2. I can fall asleep in less than three minutes 97/100 times.
3. I justify buying new tools by doing home improvement projects myself.
4. I'm praying for you.
5. I'm living up to my potential, but not meeting my expectations.
6. My childhood sports hero was Dan Mario.
7. I believe the United States will be a stronger country when we value our families more.
8. I don't know of anything that my body is alergic to.
9. I regularly feel like I'm missing something that everyone else understands.
10. I will walk an inordinate amount of distance before paying to park my car and vallet parking seems insane to me.
11. I believe society can not regulate morality, but society has a moral obligation to create regulations for certain behaviors that are morally objectionable which is quite a pinch.
12. I think Rock, Paper, Scissors is dumb because paper has no shot to beat rocks. Don't even!
13. I don't own an i-anything.
14. I have no problem speaking in front of any size crowd.
15. I agonize over the right words to use in written sentences. Simple notes take forever to write.
16. I like college football better than professional football and think a playoff will ruin college football.
17. I believe the US Senate should have impossed term-limits a long time ago.
18. If I had ten free dinners at any resturant, I would choose ten new resturants and meals.
19. I am consistently inconsistant, but if I say I will be somewhere, you can count on me being five minutes early.
20. I'm related to Merriweather Lewis (Lewis and Clark) and the Hatfields (Hatfields and McCoys).
21. I have a fairly addictive personality trait that causes me some trouble.
22. I have one daughter, Josalyn, who was born on the 4th of July (five weeks premature).
23. I have hiked in the wilderness.
24. I regret not going to a game at the old Yankee Stadium before it was closed.
25. I will live with more integrity during the second thirty years of my life than the first thirty.

No Skills for Old Men

It has been a while since my last musing. Sorry about that. Busy days and sleepless nights have kept me away. Tonight I'm home with Josaln who is a perfect angel, listening to Christmas music. We've gotten to hang out two nights in a row now!! What fun...except for one small problem. The task that used to keep me in the game was feeding. While Heather was in the hospital and even during the late night feedings while we were home, I got to give Josalyn the bottle. I was SO good at it. I loved it. It was such a thrill to watch her take a half ounce in the first days feedings and work her way up to two each feeding.

Fast forward four and a half months. Now I'm home alone with her and she will not take a bottle. She just gums it like a pacifier or her fist and looks at me like I'm nuts!!! (which I may be.)

So, here's to mommy!!! You're doing a great job! Once you get Josalyn on solid foods, I guess I'll be able to help again. For now, we're looking at the Christmas tree lights and talking about the economy.

Appropriate For Viewing By All Ages

For those of us with undiagnosed ADD, who are venturing into the realm of parenthood, hey look, a squirrel!

Just kidding! But seriously now, there is a pressing issue that we must face as parents. How much external stimulation is necessary/desirable/enough for a developing child? Rather, how much is the lack of said stimulation appropriate? From the time we were old enough to open our eyes, people have been pushing stuff in our faces, expecting that it will help form important neural connections that will one day equate to the thinking processes of a Ivy League graduate. We now have, at our fingertips, products created for the Baby Einstein in our family. What peace of mind that must give us! Are you going to try and tell me that Mr. Einstein used his namesake toys and, in fact, we would have no idea how relative things are if he had not?




















Some stimulation is fine and obviously enjoyable, but....



I'm not a psychologist, or a teacher, and this is only my first trip around the carrousel so what do I really know. Would we be doing our childeren a better service by providing a reasonable amount of stimulation combined with appropriate doses of quiet time so that one day they may be able to think for themselves? To me (or is it just me?), creative thought almost seems impossible while information is constantly being crammed down our cranium!

Careful What You Eat

Babies eat a lot. Not just a lot of food, but a lot of the time. It suprises me that they don't get tired of the same food all the time. I eat a reasonable amount and I still get bored with the same foods when I eat them too often. I need variety in my meals. I began to wonder how a baby must feel eating milk for every meal?


Babies can't eat anything else because if you try, their tounge just pushes it back out the hatch. The guys had a hang-out night and I brought over bbq wings and the baby (to give mama a break). Sure enough, we tried this experiment and there was no interest in the wings. No one seemed to upset because it left more wings for the rest of us. I understand that this reflex slowly goes away when babies are ready for solid foods and that is how you know it's time to switch. They can't take solids until their bodies are ready for them. Ingenius! Maybe she will be interested in wings later on. They were good!

Today I asked God why we don't have this reflex as adults. I told Him that it seemed logical for us to have an internal mechnism that would kick stuff back out that we weren't made to swallow; like sin. Instead of food , I told God that I wanted one for the sinful thoughts that bombard my mind every day. As soon as they started creeping in, BOOM, BAM, ZOINK, the internal army boot would kick it right back out. He said it doesn't really work that way. So, I guess I'm stuck with self-control. "Be careful little ears what you hear."

Multi Tasking With Baby

Awhile back it hit me that life is busy, often packed with more to-do's that anyone can accomplish in a reasonable amout of time. It isn't a secret that life is busy. Many wise individuals are making lots of money by helping us with our busy life. Some of my favorites are drive-thru pharmacies, direct deposit (and automatic withdrawl), Youtube, and super stores where you can purchase watermelon, plasma televisions, get your oil changed and deposit your recycleables in one stop. Anything that makes life easier and faster is out there for us to enjoy. The problem is that with our free time, we just pack more stuff into our day so we end up feeling just as tired when the day is all said and done.

It's not a problem that life is busy, in my opinion. Rather, my realization was that, once Josalyn was born, something was going to have to give way in our busy schedules. Many things have gone by the wayside over the past 11 weeks. Somethings, we've found, are just not important and don't get done. Other things are important and are just done with less intensity. And then we find that good-old fashion multi-tasking can help squeeze a few more to-do's off the list. Take washing the baby for instance.

Now, a baby needs bathed about every three days. I've heard of people bathing/showering a baby with you to cut some time out, but the physics of soap and water and naked baby makes me nervous. Try to stay focused on one thing at a time when it involves your baby and water just to be safe. If there is laundry to be done though, there is no reason not to get baby involved in the fun.


Be creative in your multi-tasking with baby. It just may open up the joy of chores to your newborn. Now if I could only get her to clean the inside of my car's windshield...

Buckle Up

I don't know how many people have told me that when they had babies back in the day, that it was common practice just hold your newborn on your lap when you came home from the hospital for the first time. My father indicated that he actually took the safety precaution of tying us down in the back seat with some old pieces of rope. Funny, but I'm sure there was some element of truth to that. For considerate new parents, I came across the following illustration of the proper way to buckle up your new baby when traveling in a vehicle.

Securing your baby is very important to the well being of your new child. It is so important, in fact, that the hospital staff now informs folks that they may not transport their new child home unless an approved car seat has been installed and checked. To whit, my good friend Michael responded, what if we take the bus home?!?

After 16 days in the hospital, we were able to bring a healthy baby Josalyn home in an approved safety seat. Some day I'm sure she will appreciate knowing that we took all prudent and reasonable precautions for her safety even though we did have some old rope in the trunk.