Category: family

On Saturday night Kristen and I went to Lowes to look at stuff for our kitchen update project. (Actually made a lot of decisions!)

Oddly enough the only thing we bought was a new light for our dining room. It may seem like a silly thing, but we were really embarrassed by the ugliness of that old light. As with most of the other fixtures in the house, it was just all wrong for a house built in 1871 to have the 1980’s "brass and glass" look for the lights when everything else screams arts & crafts. Now we have a nice, simple black metal and white glass fixture that doesn’t stick out as being out of place.

Kristen and I woke up to a screaming Paul about 6:30. For some reason Paul (3 1/2 years old) woke up with a very sore neck. We think he just slept on it weird. He’s in otherwise good spirits, just doesn’t want to move around a lot. Could be a long day.

Thankfully, after working 10-12 hours Monday through Thursday this week, I’m off today and tomorrow. Hopefully Paul will feel better soon so we can get back to wrestling.

This is Stoney. He isn’t the brightest dog, but he is our beloved pet. Alright, the truth is that Kristen and I love the dog and the kids don’t like him at all. But that’s not really important.

Stoney is lazy and sleeps nearly the entire winter. He either sleeps or passes gas until April. Yet, one thing gets him excited when there is snow on the ground. When we let him out to do his personal duty, it is his duty to the McLane family to scare the little obnoxious turds out of all squirrels within a block of our house.
And this, he does well. We open the door and he chases the squirrels and barks like crazy. In Stoney’s mind the squirrel is little more than the rodent version of Martha Stewart. He seeks to chase and one day eat him a squirrel. Until then, all of his dreams will be unfulfilled.

Luckily, Stoney is not alone. There is a man who also knows the truth about squirrels. His name is David Crowder. Here is a true story about squirrels that prove once and for all, they are evil.

(more…)

I just got back from the doctors office. It was a good thing that we kept Megan home from school today because the doctor told us she thinks Megan has pink eye.

Conjunctivitis (commonly called "pinkeye" in the USA and "Madras Eye" in India) is an inflammation of the conjunctiva (the outermost layer of the eye and the inner surface of the eyelids), most commonly due to an allergic reaction or an infection (usually bacterial or viral).

So, looks like she’ll be home from school for 2-3 days until this clears up. So far she is taking it well.

This isn’t a huge deal. But I’m feeling pretty good about repairing the central humidifier on our furnace. Hopefully, the furnace will never again have problems. (Yeah, right!)

As long as the thing works and we all feel better, it’s well worth the effort. The whole family was feeling rather dry. With temps at about 15-18 this week, the house is really drying out.

In the last few days, Kristen has gotten progressively sick. It’s gone from a sore throat to a full-fledged "something." So, in just an hour or so she is off to the doctor.

In the meantime, the kids and I are laying low. It’s just not a lot of fun when mom gets sick. Of course, it’s also no fun to see my wife feeling so miserable.

Just a quick note to let the world know that the McLane family had a great experience with Megan’s class pet. Speedy, the gerbil, was returned safely and is now thriving around his 50+ kindergarteners.

It was fun having him. Not sure a gerbil is the pet for us, but at least he didn’t die. And that little sucker bites quite hard. The teacher wasn’t kidding about that one.

OK, as a daddy to a five year old girl, I’m struggling a little bit with the "big kid" stuff that she’s doing. I know this will always be a problem and I’m kind of foolish for feeling this way… but seeing Megan do big kid things, which are completely normal, is tougher than I thought it would be.

Since Christmas, she has gotten her ears pierced and started playing with the pretend make-up that my mom gave her. To make matters worse, the earrings were a gift from my mother-in-law and the make-up was from my mom. My own mother contributing to the delinquency of a five year old? (OK, seriously… I’m going to put the kabash on the make-up. Dress up is OK, but I’m not ready for "real" make-up.)

I was beginning to be fine with these revelations when I got hit with another one last night. Megan had a friend sleep over. The entire night I was exiled to the kitchen while the girls did girlie things and watched girlie videos. Thankfully, Paul was included in the escapade… but still… how did all of this happen?

What’s next? Boys? (Thankfully… Megan will gleefully tell me that boys are yucky.) When you see Megan in a soccer uniform this summer, now you know why. We have to maintain some balance here. Heck, she might even play football.

We were chosen as the the caretakers of Megan’s class hamster, Speedy. Since there are 52 kids in her class… there’s a lot of pressure that the rodent doesn’t choke on some cardboard and die.

Day 1, Speedy is nice and cozy in the kitchen. That is, until he smells. Then he’s up to Megan’s room.

p.s. In other family news, my daughter has started to use one of my favorite "adamisms." She said "oh crap" today. Oops!