The Domesticated Male

Anticipation is building! All the votes have been cast. The Bus is about to move. The scales are calculating loss. It's the BIG REVEAL!!! How many reality shows have you watched where the finale is a hyped crescendo of energy where some contestant or worthy person or family is receiving some type of award? I watch several and it's always so awesome to see the celebration afterward. Most of the time there has been a back story that over the season or episode has been expounded and explained why this particular person is worthy of such honor. Our hearts are full of joy for the winner and we want to stand and cheer with them and often we the viewers will cry with them when we see their reward and the thankfulness they exhibit. Do you know this is how our lives are too! Our back story may be different from others but we each have stories of disappointment and disaster. When things just didn't go according to our 'life plan'. When due to some reason life seems ...

Saturday morning.... ah. Sleeping late feels so good... OMG I was able to sleep late. Where's the patter of little feet at 7-7:30 in the morning. Where's the rustle from the monitor that I know is impending doom of a little girl full of energy ready to rouse her mother and I from bed on this weekend morning when I use to be able to sleep late.... But I did sleep late! I was able to sleep until 8:30 and it felt great! Lexi and I get up and found Claudia had gotten up and turned on her TV and was watching cartoons and laying on her couch in the play room (i.e. guest bedroom). She turned 4 this past weekend and this year has seen such growth. She went from potty training and pull ups at night to completely using the potty with no assistance... except the occasional 'come and wipe me' and no accidents in bed. She went from wanting us to cloth her to clothing herself and having her own rudimentary sense of style. She now remarks whether she wants to wear certain clothes ...

We are doing it again! Our office is going through another exhaustive implementation of yet another computer system. On board this year we have several computer system projects in our que lined up for implementation. By the end of 2012 we will be more streamlined, more efficient, and more effective. I am all for technology making our processes and procedures better so don't think that I am knocking the usage of technology. What I am saying is that in the process of becoming 'MORE' we have diminished what it means to be in Human Resources. Now a person can go from an applicant to an employee without stepping foot into the Human Resources Office. In our effort to make processes more open we have literally in many cases closed off the Human Resources office from view. The only reason many see for coming in Human Resources is negative in nature. They need to file a claim of some sort or they have some documentation that must be hand delivered for an action to occur. I am a huge...

I remember the first time I saw the WWII memorial in Washington. What a massive structure. Each piece of it was a representation of some significance. Walking around I couldn't help but think of the impact the War had on my family, and the country. There is such a great sense of pride in knowing we were a part of something much bigger than the United States. I love watching movies about WWII, Saving Private Ryan, Pacific series, any Holocaust movie. It pulls at my heart to see the sacrifice we made as a nation during that period in history. I think sometimes we over-glamorize the era to a degree. It was a period of great pride but also of great loss and innocence. A period of reckoning for many Americans about the fallibility of who we are as individuals and the greatness of being self-sacrificing for the greater good. I look back at that time with a sense of Awe of what that generation accomplished. My grandfather was a part of that generation. He was very rough ar...

There's Option Number 1. There's Option Number 2. There's also the child's option that I didn't think of and doesn't seem to be feasible or in anyway remotely practical... but in their mind it's the only available option and how dare you mommy and daddy for not thinking of it first. I've been to seminars and conferences. I've sat in meeting after meeting and gleaned a lot of knowledge on conflict resolution and strategic planning. All of that goes out the window when someone under the age of 3 is involved. The reasoning is VERY intuitive and egocentric. Now I've dealt with egocentric and I myself have been and am a little egocentric.. just ask my wife (who loves me greatly enough to tell me 'get over yourself' at times). My child takes the cake. It's difficult as a reasoning adult who has an advanced degree to be turned into a fumbling baffoon at times by this little person who doesn't understand all the nuances of c...

Well it has been a while since I blogged so I need to update... 1. Claudia She is in such a wonderful age. This past weekend it seems like a switch has been thrown and she is talking up a storm. Real words not just 'jabber'. She can say almost anything you want her to say. She is an amazing little girl. She is getting over her cold really well. No fever for several days and she actually takes her medicine like a big girl thanks to Cherry flavoring. We don't have to force it down her throat. Unfortunately with taking antibiotics she has a wicked diaper rash. It feels so bad to not be able to comfort your child. 2. Summer Garden Well I have officially come to the end of my first Summer Garden. Some things grew well and others.... One thing I have decided is that as much as I want to be organic south Georgia crops have to have some chemicals. The bugs are unreal and will eat the whole plant if you don't put some high powered stuff on them. I had great success with Squash, ...

Well the garden is growing nicely but I can't seem to get rid of the bugs. I have tried to be as organic as possible with the soap spray and the organic Ortho spray but it looks like I may have to do something drastic like go to the regular bug spray for gardens. I want to be organic I truly do but it's just not working. To top things off I was sooo excited about my banana pepper that was about 6 inches long and after inspection I found that there were two holes bored into the top of it and it had been eaten. I was so mad. I know am checking all my bell peppers, cayenne , jalapenos and tomatoes for holes. I think my Swiss chard may be gone for the year. I had these tiny green worms that ate it up and I tried to get rid of them but I think it may be too late. On a positive note we have actually picked enough squash to put a bag in the freezer. I have baby okra growing too. My eggplant is growing like crazy and is blooming so hopefully I will have eggplants with a few weeks. ...