Dr Frankenstein at your service

It seems I may have created a monster. Those close to me know my affinity (or obsession if you ask my wife) for sports and their fantasy counterparts. My dad always used to say that if someone was sweating on tv I would watch it. As I have grown up I've refined that a bit to basketball and football, with some golf thrown in. O has foregone interest for the most part, but Q has shown some interest, but was too small to understand much. That all changed this past fall, as a four year old, he is now old enough to understand a lot of what's going on. I was excited to have him want to use his season ticket to U football games. That was only the beginning, the NBA season started and his interest exploded. He knew the Jazz players from a poster he had and a few of the other superstars, but now he is like a walking basketball almanac. He can tell you teams and who plays for them and what number they are. I was shocked by how he knew all the players numbers, but then we realized it's because he's just starting to read and could only tell numbers, not names.

Q is a bit of a front runner, his favorite team is Miami, mostly because his favorite player is LeBron (he even used his own money from his birthday to buy a half off Cleveland jersey). I figure it could be worse, it could be Kobe and the Lakers, then I'd have to disown him. Actually, the only team he is forbidden to EVER root for is byu. A couple of months ago, the Jazz played in Miami against the Heat. It turned into an epic game where the Jazz came back from a huge deficit to force overtime. Q consistently cheered positive Miami plays, never wavering in his support. Ultimately the Jazz prevailed in OT to my cheering. At this point Q, who was in front of me watching, turns around with tears streaming down his face. I ask why? "Because Miami lost", trying to stifle a laugh, I took him in my arms and comforted him. At that moment I knew I had created a bit of a sports fanatic monster.
Things have only grown since then. O asks to see my iPhone to play Angry Birds and Plant Vs Zombies, Q asks for it so he can see who is playing that day or who is winning. We watch tv and he asks what game is on he can watch. In the morning he no longer wants to watch Curious George, he wants NBA Gametime or Sportscenter. I finally, after much nagging from him, got him his own fantasy basketball team (he's very upset football season is over and he didn't get his own team). He can tell you all about the players on his team, who they play for, and what they are good at. He is especially taken by Blake Griffin and Kevin Love on his team, but doesn't understand why I can't trade for LeBron for him. He can also tell you about the recent Orlando and Phoenix trade. He can name all the Jazz players and their numbers, including who the rookies are. He can tell you where former Jazz players are now. For Christmas he got basketball and football trading cards which he constantly peruses and tells you about. Ask him what he got for Christmas, and he will tell you he got NBA Jam for the Wii (and basketball shoes). It is now his favorite activity and all he wants to play, even over the Kinect we got. If we watch NFL games he can tell you the teams, and some players, he even knows Drew Brees is QB for New Orleans and was mommies fantasy league QB. He always picks who he wants to win and has his favorite teams, the Bengals, the Cowboys, and the Arizona Cardinals, although he calls them the Arizona Birdies. He also faithfully roots against the Broncos, much to his Charger fan daddy's delight. Sometimes I just have to sit back and laugh at him, but it is pretty fun having a partner for the games. I think my wife dreads having two of us in the house.

Summer- Lessons and more

Before summer started, I was concerned how the boys would handle the lack of a defined schedule. I tried to plan activities like swim lessons and other classes, but knew those wouldn't take up much of the days. So much for my worries, the boys have been fine to do whatever, especially if it meant a fun activity or playing video games. On the other hand, it's killing me, I want my routine back. I can't exercise consistently, probably haven't eaten as well, haven't written a blog in weeks, and just don't seem to get things done. I never would have guessed I would be the one craving routine. To go along with that, I had forgotten what an ordeal it was to take both boys to do errands. The grocery store was the worst, if they weren't whining and foot dragging, then were pushing the cart and almost crashing it. If they weren't harassing me to buy something, then they were pushing/shoving/grabbing/hugging/kissing (yes kissing, but only to annoy, not in affection). I probably should have taken Valium before we went, or a high blood pressure pill afterward. Taking just one on errands is fine, but for some reason the two together turn into different children, with no sense of what is appropriate public behavior. It's like a chemical experiment where two elements in separate viles are harmless, but when mixed they blow up the room. This of course is not to say I haven't enjoyed my summer and being able to spend more time with the boys. It's actually been a quite remarkable couple of months.

It's been a summer of breakthroughs of sorts. I went to a high school reunion for the first time and got to see and visit with people I hadn't seen in 20 years. J has been great about taking more time off work, enjoying a staycation with her mom and sister, and just random days to do things together as a family. Q after his fourth birthday and a brief chat, gave up his binkies that he used to sleep. He just quit cold turkey, with nary a complaint, I was shocked how easy it was. Then there is O, he has made some huge strides overcoming his anxiety this summer. It started with his swimming lessons. In the past he steadfastly refused to go underwater, clinging to his teacher, begging not to. He hated to float on his back as well, and would routinely try to talk his way out of performing many of the acts his teachers requested. At his first couple of lessons this year he was reticent, but he wore his goggles and became more comfortable. Three sessions in, and now he is like a fish, spending half his time underwater, floating alone, and not wanting to come out of the pool. We also took the boys to the local amusement park, where O showed no hesitation in going on all the roller coasters (the faster the better) and most other rides. He does not share my fear of heights. He still wouldn't go on the haunted house type rides, but that seemed pretty reasonable to me. For the first time this summer, O also attended a day camp where I dropped him off and came back later to pick him up. That may not sound like much, but in the past he's always had me stay during his classes (outside of school) and such that he took. This is the child who I had to lie to and tell him that I was waiting for him in the parking lot the whole time while he was in preschool. So it was pretty big that I left him there. One last success, although it hasn't been fully realized, is our backyard vegetable garden. We haven't harvested much yet, but things are growing great and if nothing else we'll have more tomatoes than we'll know what to do with.

I don't know if this is really an accomplishment, but I did have a nine day stretch where I ate dinner in a restaurant on eight of them. I wouldn't have thought it would happen, but I got tired of going out. I just wanted to have a nice quiet home cooked meal. The most remarkable part was that I managed to not gain weight. Despite not making the time to exercise as much as I would like, I've been maintaining my weight within a couple of pounds. Down almost twenty pounds from when I started to eat right and exercise. Once school starts again, I plan to be better in consistently working out, and I imagine I will settle in about 5-10lbs less than where I am now. That will put me around 200, and I think that's probably about where I am supposed to be.

I figured I should write this blog, so that I didn't go an entire month without posting, not that anyone notices, but it made sense in my mind. I've had about 4 or 5 blogs I've intended to write and never did. Hopefully once school starts inspiration will continue to strike, and with my routine intact I will post more. In the meantime, don't expect much, the summer sun and grocery shopping with my boys turns my brain to mush.

Reunion- Reservations and Ruminations

I attended my younger brother's high school graduation on Sunday, which isn't unusual in itself, except that he was graduating from the same high school I did twenty years after me. Yes, I have a brother nineteen years younger than me, in theory he could have been graduating with the children of people I went to school with. Putting that aside, the more vexing part to me is that my twenty year high school reunion is this summer. I have not been to any of my previous reunions, and I can't quite decide if I should attend this one. In the past I haven't given them a second thought, but for some reason I can't get this one out of my mind. I guess it is the milestone nature of 20 years, or perhaps curiosity about people I graduated with. Consuming me more are thoughts back to those days and how I fit in then and how I fit in now. Those were not the halcyon days for me. I spent freshman year with an ulcer, and looking back I never quite found my "place". I tried acting in plays, I ran cross country, but it wasn't an exact fit with those crowds, I was too insecure to excel at drama and I wasn't any good at running. I liked sports, but never had played any organized and lacked the confidence (and probably skill) to try out, I was not a jock. I was smart, but not an overachiever or uber brain. Probably my biggest problem was that I never gave a full effort at anything, academics or activities, which contributed to not finding a fit. Insecurity is a bitch, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who suffered from that affliction, it's the nature of high school, but it can sure slow lane any chance at success. At least I never fell victim to any high school stereotype. Some people find themselves and their place in the world in high school, I didn't. It took me well into my adult life to be comfortable with myself, and forge a stable identity.

Back then, I had my 3 or 4 good friends, and we'd do our thing. I'd like to see them at reunion, but most aren't going. I was trying to think of who I would like to see at the reunion, but apparently either I didn't like many people in high school, or many people didn't like me, because I was coming up pretty empty. Which seems kind of funny to me now, since I like to think I can get along with a great variety of people and in differing situations. Then again most of those are temporary and/or occasional (think family and work functions) not four year long commitments. Yeah, it's probably just me and I don't like a lot of people. Of course if you're reading this I'm sure your one of the people I actually like.

In the last 10 years, I've only seen one friend from high school on purpose, and that's only been a few times. If it weren't for Facebook, I'd have almost no idea about anyone from school. (You've got to love the interwebs to feed your voyeuristic impulses about people from your past.) For some, they made their friends for adulthood in high school, not me. That's not to say I wouldn't or couldn't be friends with people from high school as an adult, things just wouldn't be the same. As the saying goes, you can never go back. We're all in different circumstances now, and all different people.

I'm not sure what my "place" will be at the reunion, but I'm pretty sure I'll go (as long as Tony does). It may be a waste, it may be fun, but I'll never know unless I go. At least it will be a night out without kids and I'll get to be with my wife which alone makes it worth it.

Rant part deux!

I'm not really a political person, although I do make sure to vote. Don't get me wrong, I most definitely have my ideas, I just mostly keep them to myself. Not worth arguing about usually. I'd like to continue with the idea that I need to quit reading and watching documentaries and the news, since it alternately pisses me off and scares the hell out of me. Mostly I worry about the future of our country and planet and what kind of shape it's going to be in for my boys as they grow up. I can make my own personal efforts to make a difference for me and my family, but usually feel helpless on a larger scale. This becomes especially true living in Utah with a liberal viewpoint. There I said it, I am, "gasp", a liberal. I don't know where or when that became such a dirty word, but I think it's time it was embraced again. Not that I really have any answers, I am not educated enough or well versed enough to provide them, but I have had these thought roiling around in my head for a few weeks and wanted to get them out.



To fix what ails this country you need to go the base or root of the issue and work up from there. To start, everything comes back to money, so if you want to find any answers follow the money. That brings me to my first thought, to bring about any significant change (on the government side of things), whether it be in health care, finance reform, or anything for that matter, there will first have to be campaign finance reform. Politicians spend far too much time trying to rake in contributions when they should be governing. Then of course there is all the influence those contributions bring, and you can't tell me it doesn't, because if it didn't work you wouldn't be seeing the millions poured into campaigns. That flow needs to be shut off. I'm not sure how or if it would work, but I think there needs to be strictly government funded elections with no private donations. With the way news coverage is everywhere and the ease with which information can be distributed online, I have to believe there is no need for exorbitantly priced campaigns. Bring back going door to door to spread your message, or town halls, or even online forums. Those who vote on the issues will seek out the information, for those who vote strictly based on what animal is next to your name the information doesn't matter anyway. Maybe without corporate money influences, there can be more honest open debate about what's best for the population as a whole.



Last week Exxon Mobil announced earnings for the first three months of the year of $6.3 billion dollars. Are you kidding me in three months they profited $6 billion dollars? That is difficult to comprehend that much money. Ford Motor company posted first quarter profits of $2 billion dollars (pre-tax). I kind of think corporations could be paying a little higher taxes on these obscene profits. I don't buy that taxing them more is going to shut down the economy, especially with all the millions they'll be saving by not having to donate to campaigns.



Health care has gotten out of control we're paying more and more, and receiving less care, and it just seems to continue to spiral upward. The health care bill was great for getting insurance for uninsured, but it really didn't address the problems of what the system is doing to everyone else. I haven't got a clue what to do about that. What I do think is that people need to try and live healthier lives, try to make people healthy before they get sick. If we go to a large root of the problem, it is what and the way people eat. I heard a statistic on TV that in twenty years, 75% of the population of Texas will be obese. People need to become educated about where there food comes from, and what it is we are eating. I think the documentaries Food Inc. and the World According to Monsanto, should be required viewing for everyone. I know it's not feasible to feed the world organically, but what food industry corporations have done to our food supply is criminal. What may be worse is what has been done to the government oversight of the industry and the departments that are supposed to keep citizens safe and healthy. I would really like there to be labelling for any food I purchase that has been genetically modified, I don't think that's too much to ask. Some of the information about food is really scary. As a corollary to this, people need to get off their ass and do something, anything, just be a little bit more active. I feel that if people lived healthier, then we wouldn't have as many reasons to go the the doctor, and maybe health care costs could come down.

I am of the general opinion that the US should not be policing the world. I don't feel we belong in Iraq or Afghanistan, but I'm not sure how we leave, or even if we should at this point. I would really like it for all the troops to come home, not sure if they can. The fact that we spend thirty times as much on defense as the next highest country is ridiculous. Maybe it's time we looked at pairing that down to say fifteen times as much, we should still be safe, and I bet we might be able to lower the national debt. There are enough domestic problems to worry about without trying to fix places halfway around the world that are trying to blow us up for being there.

I'm not touching immigration. No easy or good answers.

We are falling behind the rest of the world when it comes to education. This should not happen. Teaching needs to become an honored profession again, complete with the financial incentive to make it worth it. How can we hope to have a bright future unless we can educate the next generation to lead us there? Maybe some of that military savings could go toward education as well.

I'm slowing down on my rant, I think it's time to pack it in. I feel so much better now! Always good to get things off your chest! Maybe now I can go back to writing funny things about my kids, only 6 weeks left of school, not sure what's going to happen after that.

I feel a rant coming on

I told my dad the other day that I needed to quit watching documentaries and reading books, because it was freaking me out and pissing me off. Apparently I've got to quit reading my sons monthly school newsletter as well. The last few have each had a little article about freedom, this month it is on the impact of freedom on the economy. I think Glen Beck would be very proud of this article. "When government intrudes upon trade, one or both parties are forced to sacrifice their choice in the terms of the trade, as in the recent government mandate that banks lend financially unsound mortgages. Such actions lead to the loss of property rights and therefore a loss of LIFE.". What? I must have missed that mandate. But wait, there's more. "Over the years agents of the US government have exerted more control over the economy, claiming that a free market of labor and wages would result in massive unemployment. Their "logic" says that when people save their money, they hurt the economy and cause unemployment. This is why they believe that the government must step in and redistribute the wealth." Again, what? There has been massive deregulation for the last 20 plus years, many of which have at least partially caused the economic problems among other problems as well. And who in the hell are the "agents", "they", and "their" in that paragraph. I'm beginning to wonder if my boys are attending the Fox News of private schools. The article also contends that US fiscal policy "promotes unreal economic stimulation through invented public projects (the bridges to nowhere). This Keynesian economic approach has resulted in
-a national debt of almost $13 trillion, an increase of 50% since 2006
-severe mortgage defaults, with a new wave on the near horizon
-1.41 million Americans filing personal bankruptcy in 2009
-a perceived devaluation of the US dollar, threatening its world status
-37 million Americans on food stamps and 50% of the population who pay no income tax
-decreased corporate profits, resulting in 55% reduction in September 2009 tax receipts
-unemployment of 15 million people, 6 million for 27 weeks or more"

I'm no economist, but seriously, how can you blame all this on Keynesian economic policy of the government. I'm pretty sure we've been involved in an overseas quagmire of a war contributing a large amount of that debt. I'm worried that I'm going to have to check to see if my son's textbooks are being printed in Texas. Next the article says " 'Un-free' economics leads to rights violations---just consider how, in order to bail out General Motors, the government confiscated and appropriated shareholder and dealer property. Such injustice would never be upheld by free enterprise---the only true economic system for a free society." Really? Pretty sure GM was begging for money and would have done anything to get it.

I'm not advocating for the downfall of capitalism, I just think this article takes quite a bit of liberty and huge jumps in logic. I'm also wondering what place it has in a school newsletter (it's a private school with many campuses in 4 states and this is the whole group newsletter). The point made at the very end is that the school's mission to "prepare children to become self reliant, productive individuals is not just an abstract idea. We encourage them to think and work for themselves and to cherish their freedoms and defend their individual rights." That last sentence sounds like my son is part of a militia (a quick Google search of the school founder pulled up her political donations, which were heavily conservative and included donations to the Minuteman PAC, so no suprise there), but I do hope my boys do learn to think and decide for themselves. I don't want them to believe the overly simplistic load of crap in this article. I'm not even going into the economic allegory (Mr. Capital in Free Isle) that goes with article the tells of the honest capitalist businessman whose life is brought to ruin by government interference. Not that I wasn't before, but I am obviously going to have to pay attention to what my sons are being taught. I'm not going to pull the boys out because of this, we've been very happy with the education they've been receiving, but I do question the judgement shown in printing the article. I find it unconscionable that a learning institution can play so loose and fast with the facts, I'll make sure my boys learn to properly research what they write for school.

Whole Paychecks

I've been at this attempt to exercise and be healthier for 11 weeks now. I've lost over ten pounds, changed around the foods we've had in the house, and driven everyone a little crazy. I think it's gotten to where you can see a difference in the way I look, my jeans I bought 6 months ago are definitely looser on me. The exercise has become easier too. Instead of avoiding them, and the workouts being a chore, I now want to go work out and do more and for longer as well. I worked out 6 days last week, of course I gained a pound too, we'll say it must be muscle. What I decided with all of this though is that I have chosen the hard way of things. You have to plan and take the time to workout, that's part of it. What is really the hard part (and it turns out to be the expensive part too) is the eating. It's not so much the missing out on fatty foods or sweets or things like that, it's more the inconveniences. It is easier to buy prepared foods or go out to eat. I have chosen to try and eat and cook for me and my family organically as much as possible. Now I am not militant about this or a zealot about it, I'm not willing to make those kinds of sacrifices or put my ideas on anyone else (sometimes I wish I could). I also don't think anyone needs to make accommodations for me if I come to their house. I also like to eat out at restaurants, and not too many are organic, so I have to overlook that when we go out. For the summer we will have fresh produce from a CSA, but for now without it means shopping mostly at Whole Foods or Whole Paychecks as I recently heard it referred to. It's no wonder that obesity is rampant in poorer communities, it's expensive to try and eat healthy. It's a lot easier and cheaper to hit McD's. That brings up another difficult aspect of this, my kids. On the whole my kids usually eat pretty healthy, but they are constantly bombarded with advertising to do otherwise. Fast food and their toys are the worst. The boys have not been happy about their reduction in happy meals. I'm not so mean that they can't ever have them, but I've also made it clear that it will be rare. I also still let them have the kids cereals (Lucky Charms and the such), we all grew up on them, so it's hard to deny them those. But I'll also cook them eggs or pancakes anytime they want instead. I don't want to deprive them of anything or make something more desirable by forbidding it. It still is hard to make them understand what is and isn't healthy and why it is important to try and be healthy. In the long run I think we'll all be better off for my efforts, and I think it will get easier as I do it more, and as society shifts its views as well. As for me, I still have a ways to go in my healthy efforts and exercise as I work towards looking like Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. I can have my pipe dreams still can't I? I also have to survive vacation next week too, not sure what's going to happen with the diet and exercise there.

The return of crabby daddy

It's nearing the end of another of my pseudo-single parenthood periods, aka J's busy season at work. I have to say this one hasn't been too bad. It is only recently that there have been intermittent visits from "crabby daddy", my cranky alter ego. Crabby daddy comes out when every little thing his boys do drives him crazy. It wasn't until after a week of spring break togetherness that he appeared this year. He comes about naturally, because after hearing a nagging voice for 24/7 for week (ie, stop that, don't do that, be quiet, get off your brother, put down the knife, for the love of god please be quiet for two minutes), it's easy to tune out that voice. Tuning out the voice and not listening brings out crabby daddy. Maybe it's the boys getting older (or me getting older), or maybe it's that they are back in school again this week, but crabby's visits have been brief and fairly rare.

One other result of this time of year appears to be my complete lack of accountability in keeping up the house. I'll start the dishes, but then not finish, or clean off half the kitchen table. Children's toys are scattered every which way. The place looks like a tornado hit it, but I guess that happens when J is too tired to say anything about it when she gets home. Since she's too busy to do anything about it, I also don't have to feel guilty about her cleaning up. I know I should keep things up, but my conscience alone hasn't been enough to do it. The cleaning lady comes Friday, so I'll have to have it picked up by then, I just hope I can.

This year we are heading straight out on vacation at the end of busy season, no lag time, which means I'll be doing all the prep for the trip. That's fine as long as the boys cooperate and don't get too worked up. Not sure who I'm kidding with that last sentence, it's a trip and children, they'll be bouncing off the walls. We may remember why we usually don't leave immediately... too stressful! It's a trip we've taken before so hopefully that will help, because nobody wants crabby daddy on the trip.