Who Am I?

Family, Fatherhood, Gardening, Life

Yesterday, the rain held off.  It was the perfect time to catch up on some yard work that needed to be done.  I mowed the lawn, put down some grass seed (our lawn still hasn’t recovered from the burst water pipe last year), trimmed some hedges, and potted some plants we had purchased the previous day.

While I was doing this, the boys were inside with B.  They could have come out, but they don’t like the noise that the lawn mower puts out.  JSL, who came out for a little bit, freaked out that every small flying bug was a bee coming after him.  Besides, I had set up NHL on my computer and he was having a blast playing Angry Birds, Gravity Duck and other games online.

So I had the time to myself.  It was nice.  I had peace and quiet and could think while I lugged heavy bags of dirt or pushed our mower up and down the yard.  I began to enjoy my “Dad’s Day Out” until it hit me.  This *was* the closest thing to a dad’s day out that I’ve had in awhile and I was doing yard work.  Some day out.

I began to think about how I’d rather spend a day out by myself.  Suppose B came up to me and told me that, this coming Sunday, she would take the boys and I could do whatever I wanted.  What would I do?

I don’t have any family or friends here and it often feels like I switch between “Worker Mode” (where I’m in an office all day with little to no social interaction beyond “we need you to do this for us”) straight to “Dad Mode” (where I try to cook meals, take care of my wife and kids, clean up, etc).  If I’m not in “Worker Mode” or “Dad Mode”, who am I?  Who is TechyDad when he’s not coding web sites or being a dad?  I’m not sure I have an answer for that question and it scares me.  I love being a web developer and I love being a dad, I don’t think it is too much to ask to be able to be “just me” from time to time. 

The dream I had last night isn’t helping my mood, either.  I was with B and my parents visiting my grandparents’ grave site.  Only, I didn’t know exactly where it was.  Somehow, I got separated from everyone.  As I tried to find them and the gravesite, they visited the grave and then prepared to leave.  I tried to explain to them (via cell phone) that I still needed to visit the grave, but they told me they’d leave without me if I didn’t get to the car.  Then, B came by to bring me back to the car over my objections.  I was almost in tears over being denied the opportunity to visit my grandparents’ grave when I woke up.

I’m not sure if the dream is somehow related to the “Who am I” feelings from the previous day, but this wouldn’t be the first time that I dreamt about something bothering me.  Between yesterday’s identity crisis and this morning’s bad dream, you’ll excuse me if I’m feeling emotionally on edge today.

20 Pounds In 20 Weeks: Week 18: Finish Line In Sight

20lbs in 20 weeks, Fitness, Weight Loss
Starting Weight 205
Current Weight 186
Goal Weight 185
Lost 19
Left Until Goal 1

Just a quick post to note that I’m closing in on my goal.  I’m a single, solitary pound away from calling this challenge a success.  I suppose I should be happier about this, but I’m not.  Ok, I am happy about it, but it’s not brightening my mood much.  The reason why will be clear in my next post.  Here’s hoping my mood lightens more so I can celebrate next week when (crossing fingers) I hit 185.

Aloha Friday: Expanding Culinary Horizons

Aloha Friday, Food, NHL

NHL used to be such a good eater.  He would order pizza with broccoli and mushrooms.  Not because we promised him dessert, mind you, but because he liked broccoli and mushrooms.  Then he would proceed to eat every veggie and fungal item on his plate.  He also once wanted a taste of some spicy vegetarian chili I had ordered.  I wavered, afraid to give him spicy foods, but he liked it.  He wanted another bit and another and another.

Sometime around three or four, though, his culinary horizons collapsed inward.  Suddenly, vegetables were avoided and spicy was shunned.  About the only healthy thing he would eat was fruit.  We would implore him to eat veggies to no avail.  We tried sneaking them in, but he kept finding us out.  He, sadly, inherited stubbornness from somewhere.  (*whistles innocently*)

Recently, though, he appears to be rediscovering the joy of trying new foods.  He fell in love with broccoli awhile ago, but, on one of our rare trips to McDonald’s, he decided to try BBQ sauce on his chicken nuggets.  He loved it.  That led him to try the sweet and sour sauce that came with his “Chinese chicken nuggets” (our code name for “Sweet and Sour Chicken”).  He loved that too.  This from the kid that once refused anything that contained any kind of “sauce.”  (The lone exception being pizza.)

The most surprising, though, came a few days ago.  We were trying Green Giant’s Simply Steam Brussels Sprouts with Butter Sauce.  NHL looked at the green orbs on our plate and asked to try it.  I’ll admit, I was conflicted.  On one hand, how could I say no to a kid asking to try brussels sprouts?  On the other hand, it’s brussels sprouts!  What’s the likelihood that he would like it?

He didn’t just like it, he loved it!  He ate about a third of the package by himself.  Now, if he sees us take out a package, he asked for some.  He’s even identified them fresh in the supermarket and has asked for me to make them.  (I know that poorly made brussels sprouts can taste bad, so I’m not sure how brave I am making them just yet.)

Now, if only he could help us convince JSL to eat veggies instead of asking for Mac and Cheese for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

My Aloha Friday question for today is: Does you and/or your child eat vegetables?  If so, what kinds of veggies are your and/or your child’s favorites?

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the McLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha Friday by Kailani at An Island Life

Aloha #88

My Little Photographers

Birthday, JSL, NHL, Photography, Photos

When NHL turned four years old, my parents bought him a camera for his birthday.  No, not a DSLR or even a cheap point and shoot  This was a Fisher Price Kid Tough digital camera.

P1040906_Cropped P1040912

The entire camera was designed with kids in mind.  There were two handgrips (for better grips), two eye pieces (since kids might not get “squint and look here”), and the whole thing was rugged enough to survive a drop down a flight of stairs.  NHL had a blast taking photos of everything in his sight.  (So much so that we quickly realized ground rules were needed like “No taking photos of Mommy and Daddy when they are on the potty!”)

Eventually, his attention was diverted by other toys and the camera found its way to the Heap Of Rarely Played With Toys.  At some point, JSL took an interest in this camera, but there was a problem.  No matter how often I put a fresh set of batteries in, it would only work for a brief period of time before dying again.

During our Disney World trip, JSL began asking for a camera.  What began as an occasional request quickly ramped up.  In fact, as I waited in line at Epcot’s photo center (to get some photos added to our Photo Pass card), JSL went berserk.  There, right in front of him, was a display of Disney-themed kids cameras.  He wanted one and he wanted one NOW!

Somehow, we held him off until his birthday.  That’s when he got this:

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That would be his new V-Tech Kidizoom Plus.  It is a 2MP camera, does video, adds special effects to photos and more.  If anything, it’s a little too complex for JSL so we’re trying to limit him to just photos.

He’s now hooked on taking photos.  Here’s a small selection of his work.

DC000288 DC000286 DC000298 DC000312 DC000526 DC000539

Don’t feel bad for NHL, though.  He’s inherited my old camera with the broken flash.  Well, perhaps not “inherited”, but rather “will be allowed to use on a heavily supervised basis.”

If the weather holds out this weekend, perhaps I’ll be able to take the boys on a photo shoot.  I’ve got my eyes on a photography exercise that Chookooloonks posted about.  I’ll take them outside, walk 100 paces and have them take 20 photos of things right around them.

If you could go on a photo shoot with your kids, where would you go?

Review : Skunked by Marina Games

Fun, Review

When I first heard of Skunked, I’ll admit, I was expecting some kind of odorous twist to the game.  Instead, I found out that Skunked looks like this:

IMGP9614

Game play is quite simple.  Each player rolls the dice and records their score.  As you roll again and again, you add to your score until you either decide to stop or you roll a one.  If you stop, that round’s total is added to your score.  However, if you roll a one, then your score that round is reset to zero and you must put a chip in the pot.  Beware of double-ones.  That will reset your entire game’s score to zero.  Just to add insult to injury, you’ll need to toss four chips in the pot.

If a player reaches (or exceeds) 100, then the game turns into a high score competition.  Each player must match or top the high score on their next turn or they are eliminated.  The last player standing gets all the chips in the pot.  The player with the most chips after three games wins.

B and I played this one night and it was quite enjoyable.  Being a geek, I kept score with a spreadsheet program.  It let me add up multiple rows quickly and tally up total game scores.  (It was late and I wanted to give my brain a rest from math.)  We had fun trying to keep rolling higher and higher scores without hitting the dreaded one.  (Yes, I hit a double-one once, but luckily it was on my first roll of a game so my score went down to zero FROM zero!)

This is definitely a game that I would play again.  In fact, I might try playing this with NHL next time.  (JSL could easily roll the dice but is too young to understand the scoring portion.)  In fact, I think the fun factor of this game would only increase the more players you add.

Disclaimer: This post was written for Family Review Network & Marina Games
who provided the complimentary product for review in exchange for my honest opinions.

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