In just the last week I have communicated with friends and family via:
Phone
Text
Facebook (Chat, Messages and Wall posts)
Email
Google+
Twitter
Google Reader
Commenting on friends' blogs
I have had opportunity but passed up:
Skype
Google Chat
Google Voice Chat
Good Reads
Nephspace (for Kidney Disease folks)
I never thought I could be one to fall to using terms like "information overload" but at this point I sometimes feel like I am going crazy.
Can not reply to Facebook messages via email. Can not get on Facebook/twitter from the office. Feel weird replying to Facebook messages via regular email.
On occasion I even get a blog comment or two here.
Rather than try to do any more communicating tonight. Going to watch a movie with my wife and her parents.
Happy weekend to all!
Showing posts with label Random. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Random. Show all posts
August 06, 2011
July 08, 2011
Children Are Funny #1
So, a friend of mine has two kids who are beyond funny, especially in their conversations with each other. She has a running series on her blog that is up to like 56 entries just based on funny things they have said. Seriously, go check out Amy and her blog, paying close attention to THIS grouping of her blog posts. She suggested that I start such a series on my blog as well when I asked for post suggestions.
The thing is that what Abby says IS funny, but it's all in context and I do not pretend to be eloquent enough to capture context. That being said, I thought I would share some funny/sweet things from Abby's words and life recently...
Long Term Goal #1
Abby is a big fan of Pinkalicious - even leading us to create her birthday party around that book as a theme. In the latest book in the series is Silverlicious, which is about Pinkalicious losing her first tooth and her Tooth Fairy experience. You can imagine that chaos ensues, or it would make for a pretty lame book.
Since the day we bought her the book, at a release party at a bookstore nonetheless, she has been fascinated about losing her first tooth. For at least a week she was introducing herself as such - "Hi, I'm Abby. I am going to lose a tooth soon!"
Here's the thing: She's Four. Unless there is a big ugly incident, she's not losing a tooth any time soon. Strangers give her a look and are excited for her, and she lets them think it's going to happen, and soon!
We have convinced her that she will not lose a tooth any time soon, and I think she's finally okay with that. She is still fascinated by other children that are gap-toothed. She stares. She asks them how they lost their tooth and about the Tooth Fairy. It proves funny, because the older kids think it is not a big deal now, but she has such aspirations to become one of them!
Long Term Goal #2
Abby is pretty clear on the main physical difference between girls and boys. Following the in-bottom and out-bottom conversation, she later declared that "Boys have hoses and girls do not." At least we are getting closer, right? Anny has also gone into childbirth stuff after Abby asked if babies come out of belly buttons. She likely got more than she bargained for from that particular question...
Anyway, over the last month or two she has become very aware of the difference between going to the men's room and the women's room, publicly. She's NOT happy to go in with me anymore, insisting that she would be fine to go to the ladies room by herself. "I'm a girl dad, just like the girl on the picture," she says, pointing at the stick figures on the door. She also promptly points to a urinal and reminds me that those are for men, and sit down toilets are for girls. (Funny for me, mostly because I sit at home. I clean bathrooms and have no patience for spray!)
I have come up with a compromise that she seems to be okay with, though. I have told her that she has to wait until she is six and when she reaches six I will let her go in by herself. Given her affinity for pooping in public places and still preferring help wiping in such situations, I think it is just as well.
I'm already dreading her sixth birthday and the number of public pissers she is going to want to go into on that day!
Sweet and Sweaty
We went to the Missouri Botanical Garden this week for a concert that ended up being rained out. Before that, though, we had a blast at the garden. It was the first time that Abby and Anny had been since we went in February, though I was there last week. It was hot and humid out - which should be expected in July. As we sat down on our blanket to have a picnic dinner Abby got "the look" and declared she needed a trip to the potty. After rolling my eyes, mostly because I suggested she go before leaving the apartment in the first place, I walked her up and over a hill to the cleanest men's room I've seen in a long time.
On the way back to the blanket I was trying to rush a bit so I tossed her on my shoulders and huffed it with an extra almost-40-pounds. I was dripping with sweat, and my shirt was pretty humorously soaked through. Abby was "being four" and grabbing my shirt and trying to pull on me. I assured her it was WAY too hot for that, and asked her to chill out. After going through that bit three or four times Abby looked up at me and said, with the sweetest voice, "Daddy, I just wanted to pull you close so we could smile - cheek to cheek!"
All grabbing forgiven, replaced with welcomed/ing kisses!
February 20, 2011
A Tidbit Post
Another random tidbit post - woo hoo!
** ** **
Abby has recently taken to "writing letters" to her three cousins. This consists of finding a pad of paper (readily available for her use) and scribbling lines across it. They often consist of her saying
Dear Ada/Ellie/Baby Shannon,
I want you to know that you are welcome to visit my apartment any time.
Please come over today.
Thank you,
Abby
Today she wrote one while Anny and I were talking and she glared at us and declared "Please be quiet, I am writing an email over here!"
** ** **
With the nice weather we have been having most of the snow is gone. We do still have a pile in the grass near the parking lot that is still about 18 inches tall, but it started out at over six feet about ten days ago! Abby can tell that seasons as in flux, and reminds us that spring MUST be here because our inside-flower (no idea what kind it is) has already bloomed. Twice. The bigger issue, though, is that when she sees a patch of snow she declares that Christmas is coming. We might need to buy her a calendar.
** ** **
My stumbling block to walking/running might be that I want to stop and take pictures. We have a cool cemetery that we can almost see from the driveway of the apartment building. Old and new headstones as far as you can see. A perfect little hill sits on the side facing the road. When I went out on Friday morning there was a full moon lighting the cemetery perfectly. I almost turned right back around for my camera.
I might go one of these mornings just for the picture, though...
** ** **
(I told you it would be random...)
Shows getting funnier these days: Colbert Report, The Big Bang Theory and Community.
Shows not getting funnier and thus dropping off of our queue: Wipeout and Two and a Half Men.
Oh, and SNL is only good during Weekend Update.
** ** **
My sister recently declared her desire to get another tattoo and it has sort of got me thinking about another one too. Good news is I can't afford it, nor do I feel like going through that pain again. Somehow despite those two factors, it keeps popping back in my head. Maybe THIS would help my decision...
** ** **
We switched to Sprint when we moved. Mostly a money thing - we could get two smartphone plans for less than we were paying for a half-smart plan and a regular old plan on our last carrier. We are very happy with out phones, coverage and price!
I discovered last week that Sprint has a business agreement where co-workers at my workplace get a discount - and it's pretty significant! I registered for it this week, so that's exciting.
The bummer part for me is that it automatically kicks a new two-year contract into play. Like I said, I'm a fan of my phone, but Sprint lets you do a new phone every 12 months instead of 24. I acknowledge that it is silly, and that the savings from the plan FAR outweigh a new phone in five months instead of twelve, but I actually considered letting the discount go rather than do two more years!
** ** **
I told you random, and that's what you got. Facebook took over the role of this blog for a long while, but I am working on changing that now. :o)
** ** **
Abby has recently taken to "writing letters" to her three cousins. This consists of finding a pad of paper (readily available for her use) and scribbling lines across it. They often consist of her saying
Dear Ada/Ellie/Baby Shannon,
I want you to know that you are welcome to visit my apartment any time.
Please come over today.
Thank you,
Abby
Today she wrote one while Anny and I were talking and she glared at us and declared "Please be quiet, I am writing an email over here!"
** ** **
With the nice weather we have been having most of the snow is gone. We do still have a pile in the grass near the parking lot that is still about 18 inches tall, but it started out at over six feet about ten days ago! Abby can tell that seasons as in flux, and reminds us that spring MUST be here because our inside-flower (no idea what kind it is) has already bloomed. Twice. The bigger issue, though, is that when she sees a patch of snow she declares that Christmas is coming. We might need to buy her a calendar.
** ** **
My stumbling block to walking/running might be that I want to stop and take pictures. We have a cool cemetery that we can almost see from the driveway of the apartment building. Old and new headstones as far as you can see. A perfect little hill sits on the side facing the road. When I went out on Friday morning there was a full moon lighting the cemetery perfectly. I almost turned right back around for my camera.
I might go one of these mornings just for the picture, though...
** ** **
(I told you it would be random...)
Shows getting funnier these days: Colbert Report, The Big Bang Theory and Community.
Shows not getting funnier and thus dropping off of our queue: Wipeout and Two and a Half Men.
Oh, and SNL is only good during Weekend Update.
** ** **
My sister recently declared her desire to get another tattoo and it has sort of got me thinking about another one too. Good news is I can't afford it, nor do I feel like going through that pain again. Somehow despite those two factors, it keeps popping back in my head. Maybe THIS would help my decision...
** ** **
We switched to Sprint when we moved. Mostly a money thing - we could get two smartphone plans for less than we were paying for a half-smart plan and a regular old plan on our last carrier. We are very happy with out phones, coverage and price!
I discovered last week that Sprint has a business agreement where co-workers at my workplace get a discount - and it's pretty significant! I registered for it this week, so that's exciting.
The bummer part for me is that it automatically kicks a new two-year contract into play. Like I said, I'm a fan of my phone, but Sprint lets you do a new phone every 12 months instead of 24. I acknowledge that it is silly, and that the savings from the plan FAR outweigh a new phone in five months instead of twelve, but I actually considered letting the discount go rather than do two more years!
** ** **
I told you random, and that's what you got. Facebook took over the role of this blog for a long while, but I am working on changing that now. :o)
January 04, 2011
Still Not Settled
Okay, so I am realizing that I am really not feeling settled yet, and it's more of a physical thing than a mental thing.
We moved into our apartment on Halloween and things got out of boxes at a fast clip for about a week. We sorted out clothes and kitchen stuff. We basically unboxed a full wardrobe for Abby.
Funny story about that - we only anticipated on living with Paul and Sarahlynn for three months, putting right at the beginning of October and thus at the very start of chilly weather. When it became clear that we would not be moving out that early, for a myriad of reasons, we actually had to go out and get a season worth of clothes for fall! We had a full set, but it was inaccessible in our POD. Next time we move across the country (HA!) I will plan it out and pack better for the long haul...
We took a week, until the weekend when we had time to survey, we sorted out which furniture would go where, which was more of a challenge than I think it should have been. We downsized before the move. I mean ditched the couch, recliner and vacuum downsized. We gave a lot of stuff away, but I think I have blogged about that before. Somehow we still had a lot of stuff - a 17 foot truck plus two trips with the Vibe. Not cool.
Anyway, just as things calmed back down around here and we took off for our trip to Maryland for Thanksgiving. When we got back from there we pretty quickly pulled out the Christmas decorations (and the not-yet-world-famous Tri Pod Tree) and had all sorts of fun stuff strewn about the apartment.
Well, we took Christmas apart on Sunday. Yes, it is early, but for us it was time.
But the problem is right now is that there is nothing to distract from the white walls and piles of stuff around this place. It's a big place, so the walls are really bare right now. We pulled out one of the boxes of pictures/decor, but I know there is a second one down in storage but am being too lazy to go bring it upstairs. We need to get stuff on the walls. It's time to really move in. To settle in.
(I have offered a five year lease to the landlord - she informed us that there are folks who have lived here for 20+ years. I do not know if we are ready to commit for quite that long just yet!)
So this weekend I am committing to decorating the apartment, including hanging things on the walls. I reserve the right to continue to debate painting the walls - that is a bit more than I want to tackle in the next few weeks, but it is still on the table.
We moved into our apartment on Halloween and things got out of boxes at a fast clip for about a week. We sorted out clothes and kitchen stuff. We basically unboxed a full wardrobe for Abby.
Funny story about that - we only anticipated on living with Paul and Sarahlynn for three months, putting right at the beginning of October and thus at the very start of chilly weather. When it became clear that we would not be moving out that early, for a myriad of reasons, we actually had to go out and get a season worth of clothes for fall! We had a full set, but it was inaccessible in our POD. Next time we move across the country (HA!) I will plan it out and pack better for the long haul...
We took a week, until the weekend when we had time to survey, we sorted out which furniture would go where, which was more of a challenge than I think it should have been. We downsized before the move. I mean ditched the couch, recliner and vacuum downsized. We gave a lot of stuff away, but I think I have blogged about that before. Somehow we still had a lot of stuff - a 17 foot truck plus two trips with the Vibe. Not cool.
Anyway, just as things calmed back down around here and we took off for our trip to Maryland for Thanksgiving. When we got back from there we pretty quickly pulled out the Christmas decorations (and the not-yet-world-famous Tri Pod Tree) and had all sorts of fun stuff strewn about the apartment.
Well, we took Christmas apart on Sunday. Yes, it is early, but for us it was time.
But the problem is right now is that there is nothing to distract from the white walls and piles of stuff around this place. It's a big place, so the walls are really bare right now. We pulled out one of the boxes of pictures/decor, but I know there is a second one down in storage but am being too lazy to go bring it upstairs. We need to get stuff on the walls. It's time to really move in. To settle in.
(I have offered a five year lease to the landlord - she informed us that there are folks who have lived here for 20+ years. I do not know if we are ready to commit for quite that long just yet!)
So this weekend I am committing to decorating the apartment, including hanging things on the walls. I reserve the right to continue to debate painting the walls - that is a bit more than I want to tackle in the next few weeks, but it is still on the table.
December 23, 2010
Just Want to Sleep!
I have been waking up really early lately. I can blame it on many things ranging from Abby making noise in the other room to drinking WAY too much water after dinner and the call of nature. I don't know why my body will not let me go back to sleep, but it is annoying!
With that, you get a snipped blog post:
Work:
Love where I work. Love who I work with and work for. I have been given both responsibility and flexibility to go out and find others that need project work done and stuff like that. Today I will be doing my first flow chart from notes from the Chief of Human Resources! Insane, right?
Next week we have another Admin starting. I realized yesterday that this will be the first time since my days at Champs that someone has come in at the same level as I am at - someone with about the same role in the organization. I have had folks over me hired, but this will be new and (hopefully) kind of cool.
Apartment:
I keep meaning to post pictures of the apartment, but you will just have to trust me at this point that it's nice. We all have lots of space, and Abby is in a Full sized bed, so it's much more fun to read stories at the end of a day because I can go straight to cuddling. It is silly, I know, but really fun. This morning when she woke up I went in and we talked about Christmas and did silly stuff like hide from Anny when she got up.
I keep thinking I might go out and get some paint. Anny is a hang-pictures-to-break-the-white-walls person, and I am a paint-it person. I know she will win out this round, though, because I am too cheap to buy paint and we have TONS of hanging pictures.
Folks have asked if Abby is okay with the silly TriPod "Tree" for Christmas, and I assure you that she digs it. She admires real/artificial trees in other places, but she knows that ours is a little silly, but special nonetheless.
Abby:
Well, on Saturday night she twisted her foot strangely and limped for three days. Right as it was healing up she jumped out of her bed in not-tied shoes and that was a set back. Another advantage of the Full Sized bed, we found out, is that when she is whimpering through the night because of said foot injury, we don't have to sleep three to a bed. Anny just went in to Abby's bed for the night. (I take my turns, you can trust that.)
Because of the occasional bed sharing in her room, Abby is now requesting that one of us sleep with her each night. Yeah, going to have to break that habit and quick!
Abby is incredibly helpful around here, especially in the kitchen! This week alone she has helped with cookies, boxed muffins, made from scratch muffins (YUM!) and is now helping with pancakes. She is always eager to help, and is getting much better about keeping mixing in the bowls. She is often mad at us if we don't let her help in the kitchen at dinner time. Sorry, Abs, but I do not need help with the raw meat today... :o)
Hoping to knock out a post today or tomorrow about Abby and Santa. Fun stuff. But now I need to go - I hear blueberry pancakes in process and I want to be sure some are for me!
With that, you get a snipped blog post:
Work:
Love where I work. Love who I work with and work for. I have been given both responsibility and flexibility to go out and find others that need project work done and stuff like that. Today I will be doing my first flow chart from notes from the Chief of Human Resources! Insane, right?
Next week we have another Admin starting. I realized yesterday that this will be the first time since my days at Champs that someone has come in at the same level as I am at - someone with about the same role in the organization. I have had folks over me hired, but this will be new and (hopefully) kind of cool.
Apartment:
I keep meaning to post pictures of the apartment, but you will just have to trust me at this point that it's nice. We all have lots of space, and Abby is in a Full sized bed, so it's much more fun to read stories at the end of a day because I can go straight to cuddling. It is silly, I know, but really fun. This morning when she woke up I went in and we talked about Christmas and did silly stuff like hide from Anny when she got up.
I keep thinking I might go out and get some paint. Anny is a hang-pictures-to-break-the-white-walls person, and I am a paint-it person. I know she will win out this round, though, because I am too cheap to buy paint and we have TONS of hanging pictures.
Folks have asked if Abby is okay with the silly TriPod "Tree" for Christmas, and I assure you that she digs it. She admires real/artificial trees in other places, but she knows that ours is a little silly, but special nonetheless.
Abby:
Well, on Saturday night she twisted her foot strangely and limped for three days. Right as it was healing up she jumped out of her bed in not-tied shoes and that was a set back. Another advantage of the Full Sized bed, we found out, is that when she is whimpering through the night because of said foot injury, we don't have to sleep three to a bed. Anny just went in to Abby's bed for the night. (I take my turns, you can trust that.)
Because of the occasional bed sharing in her room, Abby is now requesting that one of us sleep with her each night. Yeah, going to have to break that habit and quick!
Abby is incredibly helpful around here, especially in the kitchen! This week alone she has helped with cookies, boxed muffins, made from scratch muffins (YUM!) and is now helping with pancakes. She is always eager to help, and is getting much better about keeping mixing in the bowls. She is often mad at us if we don't let her help in the kitchen at dinner time. Sorry, Abs, but I do not need help with the raw meat today... :o)
Hoping to knock out a post today or tomorrow about Abby and Santa. Fun stuff. But now I need to go - I hear blueberry pancakes in process and I want to be sure some are for me!
August 17, 2010
Another Post About Routine
Phew. Summer really is over in our family, starting today. Anny got her new students for the first *real* day of school, Abby went to daycare and I went to work. Now we can let things really settle into place.
But I will miss summer this year more than most. I got to spend a lot more time at home with Abby and Anny than usual, and probably more than I will again in the foreseeable future in such a chunk. We did some fun stuff together and got a bit better acquainted with our new town. Good times.
I miss using my camera. I don't have any good reason. Don't know if it's lack of motivation, or just time or what. Have an 8 to 5, which means I'm home just in time to either help with dinner or change clothes and eat. It was too hot for several weeks, so that is my excuse for that time. Tonight, though? Nothing better than a sore back from running around all day at work.
Speaking of which, things at work are going really well. I have gotten a lot of positive feedback from all sorts of people. Better than that, my boss has gotten that feedback too, which is important in the (non-profit) corporate world. I am getting a lot out of meeting everyone because I am at the reception desk, but boredom in a new job is bad. I have begged onto a couple of tasks, and hope to expand that later this week, to. I finished a project today that was supposed to take the whole week. I started yesterday at 4 and finished before 2 today. I am looking forward to new challenges with open arms!
I need to be better about taking my meds, and that's all I'm going to say about that.
Anny and I have decided to join the church that Paul and Sarahlynn go to. It is bigger than all of the churches I have ever joined. Combined, probably. I have done some church studying for a while now and know that the reality is that a huge church is made up of a bunch of smaller communities, so it is not nearly as intimidating. Part of the perk for me is that in a church this big, it will be easier to "hide" from responsibility for longer. I have loved every day of serving as an Elder, Deacon and even as staff, but to go to worship and not worry about why one of the fans is not spinning, or how many people were in Sunday school or how many will show up for an event in the evening is kind of nice. I will get back into it some day, but it's kind of nice for now.
That being said, I really miss our church family back in Maryland. REALLY great people who have loved us like family since the day we visited. Really.
Time to get the girl-child into the shower. She is swimming every day at her new day care. We went with in-home for many reasons, but one of the biggest is the focus on being outside and doing a HUGE variety of different things from day to day. Yesterday they went to a museum and today they went to the park. Tomorrow is the library. She might not have a huge class of kids to hang out with (seven instead of 18) she is getting a pretty awesome experience in this deal!
Seriously, enough typing. I hope to get back to regular blogging soon. No promises, but soon.
But I will miss summer this year more than most. I got to spend a lot more time at home with Abby and Anny than usual, and probably more than I will again in the foreseeable future in such a chunk. We did some fun stuff together and got a bit better acquainted with our new town. Good times.
I miss using my camera. I don't have any good reason. Don't know if it's lack of motivation, or just time or what. Have an 8 to 5, which means I'm home just in time to either help with dinner or change clothes and eat. It was too hot for several weeks, so that is my excuse for that time. Tonight, though? Nothing better than a sore back from running around all day at work.
Speaking of which, things at work are going really well. I have gotten a lot of positive feedback from all sorts of people. Better than that, my boss has gotten that feedback too, which is important in the (non-profit) corporate world. I am getting a lot out of meeting everyone because I am at the reception desk, but boredom in a new job is bad. I have begged onto a couple of tasks, and hope to expand that later this week, to. I finished a project today that was supposed to take the whole week. I started yesterday at 4 and finished before 2 today. I am looking forward to new challenges with open arms!
I need to be better about taking my meds, and that's all I'm going to say about that.
Anny and I have decided to join the church that Paul and Sarahlynn go to. It is bigger than all of the churches I have ever joined. Combined, probably. I have done some church studying for a while now and know that the reality is that a huge church is made up of a bunch of smaller communities, so it is not nearly as intimidating. Part of the perk for me is that in a church this big, it will be easier to "hide" from responsibility for longer. I have loved every day of serving as an Elder, Deacon and even as staff, but to go to worship and not worry about why one of the fans is not spinning, or how many people were in Sunday school or how many will show up for an event in the evening is kind of nice. I will get back into it some day, but it's kind of nice for now.
That being said, I really miss our church family back in Maryland. REALLY great people who have loved us like family since the day we visited. Really.
Time to get the girl-child into the shower. She is swimming every day at her new day care. We went with in-home for many reasons, but one of the biggest is the focus on being outside and doing a HUGE variety of different things from day to day. Yesterday they went to a museum and today they went to the park. Tomorrow is the library. She might not have a huge class of kids to hang out with (seven instead of 18) she is getting a pretty awesome experience in this deal!
Seriously, enough typing. I hope to get back to regular blogging soon. No promises, but soon.
May 23, 2009
Skype is Ruining TV
I have Skype - do you? (If you do, look me up if we know each other. If you just stumbled here, please don't look me up on Skype, that's just weird.) We have used the service only a small handful of times, but hope to expand our use and get the larger family in on it. (P&S - we need to talk about that!)
If you don't know what Skype is - it's a freely downloaded program that you can use for audio and/or video calls with other people that have the service - for FREE. I meant to use it when my sister was in Ireland last fall, but never did. You can also pay to use the service if you want to line it up with your cell phone or want to do other special feature types of things, but we use the basic version and are happy with it.
While I love it for personal use, it appears that Oprah, and other TV programs, are using Skype. I think I've even seen it on CNN for interviews with "common folks" like me. My problem is that it used to mean something to be on Oprah. They would fly you to Chicago to see the show and be a part of a real interview. The episode that drove me the most crazy - understanding that I only catch Oprah twice a month or so - was the one with Steve Harvey. (He's brilliant by the way) They had eight or nine screens set up in the audience and they got to ask Steve questions.
Do you mean to tell me that no woman in the (all woman) audience had good questions to ask? Could the questions not have been asked through email?
I get even more annoyed with CNN does it. They used to send real reporters out to places for a reason - Anderson Cooper (is he on CNN? I just know he is cute and toying with people about his sexuality. Good for him I say.) knows how to report on a story with facts. That's much better than any report I could ever give.
I guess I'm a purist when it comes to my junk TV, that's all.
Oprah and CNN - you're on notice. Knock off the Skyping and just bring people in or interview them for real. Technology is supposed to be fun, but you're taking something fun and making it seem like you're really lazy.
Unless you want to talk with me - my username is armonroe. :o)
If you don't know what Skype is - it's a freely downloaded program that you can use for audio and/or video calls with other people that have the service - for FREE. I meant to use it when my sister was in Ireland last fall, but never did. You can also pay to use the service if you want to line it up with your cell phone or want to do other special feature types of things, but we use the basic version and are happy with it.
While I love it for personal use, it appears that Oprah, and other TV programs, are using Skype. I think I've even seen it on CNN for interviews with "common folks" like me. My problem is that it used to mean something to be on Oprah. They would fly you to Chicago to see the show and be a part of a real interview. The episode that drove me the most crazy - understanding that I only catch Oprah twice a month or so - was the one with Steve Harvey. (He's brilliant by the way) They had eight or nine screens set up in the audience and they got to ask Steve questions.
Do you mean to tell me that no woman in the (all woman) audience had good questions to ask? Could the questions not have been asked through email?
I get even more annoyed with CNN does it. They used to send real reporters out to places for a reason - Anderson Cooper (is he on CNN? I just know he is cute and toying with people about his sexuality. Good for him I say.) knows how to report on a story with facts. That's much better than any report I could ever give.
I guess I'm a purist when it comes to my junk TV, that's all.
Oprah and CNN - you're on notice. Knock off the Skyping and just bring people in or interview them for real. Technology is supposed to be fun, but you're taking something fun and making it seem like you're really lazy.
Unless you want to talk with me - my username is armonroe. :o)
February 24, 2009
Reality?
I could handle Reality TV when shows like Survivor came around - some day I might need the knowledge about how to kill a wild boar or make my own shelter. I'm even okay with the shows that revolve around singing, like American Idol, or around fashion, like Top Model, because they give unknowns a way to get into the industry without having to have connections by skirting the traditional system.
I can understand while people enjoy watching trainwreck shows, too. It's great comedy to see women fawn over Brett Michaels and Flava Flav. Stupid and often gross (did you hear about when one girl pooped her pants right before Flav gave out his clocks?) but sometimes it is good to have just pure escapism shows.
Let me be clear, I don't necessarily watch these shows, but I can understand why they're on. (I did watch one season of Survivor, the summer that Anny was working 24/7 at camp and I was home in the evenings.)
I do enjoy watching things like Little People, Big World because of the real life stories and struggles. I know that when my daughter is 12 she will be dealing with some of the same things that their daughter is. We enjoy SuperNanny because it makes us feel like no matter how bad we are at parenting, there are worse people out there. It's actually helped us to talk through some issues that we have had while parenting thus far, too.
Somewhere along the way, though, things have gone horribly awry.
Two shows will be premiering in the coming weeks that I just can not see why they are being given air time:
JOCKEYS is on Animal Planet. It will follow the lives of... Horse Jockeys. I literally could not care less.
and
Heli-Loggers is on The Learning Channel. This will follow the guys, all guys, are the ones that go in with huge chainsaws attached to a helocopter that they use to cut down trees. Not exactly what I'm looking for in entertainment.
So, Discovery Channel partners, I'll stick to watching your new shows on your new network - Planet Green. At least they have Bill Nye and Emeril! You know, folks looking to help out the environment, not continue to do useless things...
I can understand while people enjoy watching trainwreck shows, too. It's great comedy to see women fawn over Brett Michaels and Flava Flav. Stupid and often gross (did you hear about when one girl pooped her pants right before Flav gave out his clocks?) but sometimes it is good to have just pure escapism shows.
Let me be clear, I don't necessarily watch these shows, but I can understand why they're on. (I did watch one season of Survivor, the summer that Anny was working 24/7 at camp and I was home in the evenings.)
I do enjoy watching things like Little People, Big World because of the real life stories and struggles. I know that when my daughter is 12 she will be dealing with some of the same things that their daughter is. We enjoy SuperNanny because it makes us feel like no matter how bad we are at parenting, there are worse people out there. It's actually helped us to talk through some issues that we have had while parenting thus far, too.
Somewhere along the way, though, things have gone horribly awry.
Two shows will be premiering in the coming weeks that I just can not see why they are being given air time:
JOCKEYS is on Animal Planet. It will follow the lives of... Horse Jockeys. I literally could not care less.
and
Heli-Loggers is on The Learning Channel. This will follow the guys, all guys, are the ones that go in with huge chainsaws attached to a helocopter that they use to cut down trees. Not exactly what I'm looking for in entertainment.
So, Discovery Channel partners, I'll stick to watching your new shows on your new network - Planet Green. At least they have Bill Nye and Emeril! You know, folks looking to help out the environment, not continue to do useless things...
February 14, 2009
Three Years of This Stuff?
You Betcha! I'm surprised myself that I have kept to something that long.
As of today I've been blogging for three years. It's kind of sweet to think that I began blogging on Valentines Day, until you read my first post. About my grandfather and porn. The next post was a declaration that I was going to lose weight. Yeah, that did not really happen, but maybe this is the year?! Doubt it, but it would be nice.
I have blogged about silly things and serious things. I've been open about my health, partly in an effort to document for myself and my family, but also as a way to connect with others out there that share in my struggles. I tried not to, but I have blogged about politics and work, too. I really had fun looking at pictures from the 30 years that I've been around, too!
When I look back and see that I've only written 310 posts in three years (or about one every three days) and there are people that write 310 in a year it makes me think that I'm lazy. But in reality, I need to add all of my posts on Abby's Blog, on the PC(USA) Blog and I should probably count my Flickr page. I'm not lazy, I'm actually pretty much all over the web. Yikes!
I have met some really great people through blogging. Some of them I just know through the web, some I have met in real life, and some live so close that it's a shame that I haven't met up with them. Some day, maybe. I have had some interesting conversations all over the place, and even started some trouble from time to time.
So, three years into it I'm still feeling good about my little space on the web. I wish that I had more traffic, and I guess I would if I wrote about more than just my boring little life. I'm having fun, meeting people, and have found my voice a bit more in the world.
As of today I've been blogging for three years. It's kind of sweet to think that I began blogging on Valentines Day, until you read my first post. About my grandfather and porn. The next post was a declaration that I was going to lose weight. Yeah, that did not really happen, but maybe this is the year?! Doubt it, but it would be nice.
I have blogged about silly things and serious things. I've been open about my health, partly in an effort to document for myself and my family, but also as a way to connect with others out there that share in my struggles. I tried not to, but I have blogged about politics and work, too. I really had fun looking at pictures from the 30 years that I've been around, too!
When I look back and see that I've only written 310 posts in three years (or about one every three days) and there are people that write 310 in a year it makes me think that I'm lazy. But in reality, I need to add all of my posts on Abby's Blog, on the PC(USA) Blog and I should probably count my Flickr page. I'm not lazy, I'm actually pretty much all over the web. Yikes!
I have met some really great people through blogging. Some of them I just know through the web, some I have met in real life, and some live so close that it's a shame that I haven't met up with them. Some day, maybe. I have had some interesting conversations all over the place, and even started some trouble from time to time.
So, three years into it I'm still feeling good about my little space on the web. I wish that I had more traffic, and I guess I would if I wrote about more than just my boring little life. I'm having fun, meeting people, and have found my voice a bit more in the world.
February 12, 2009
Taxes are Done!
It's tax time here in the US. Anny and I finished up our taxes last night and filed electronically. (which means that I finished our taxes while Anny got Abby into bed.) I think it's the fastest we've ever submitted, mostly because I'm afraid of forgetting to do it later on! I don't think that I have ever waited until April 10th or later, but I've sure waited until the 1st before...
One year, when we lived in Manassas, we took our taxes to one of those use-us-in-the-K-Mart joints and ended up forking out $95 and sitting there for two hours or more while some guy who only does taxes as a hobby hunted and pecked into his trusty computer. When he left to use the telephone I took a glance at his computer screen only to see that he was
We're getting a sizable return this year, again. I guess when you fork out more than $15k each for childcare and mortgage interest the Feds look on you with some favor. (Though the childcare credit was only $600, which is a mere fraction of our output.)
We have gotten big refunds for the last few years, really, and that works for me. Anny has begun to ask me if we should change our witholding on our paychecks to have the money more consistently through the year or if we should continue to get the big refund at the end of the year. Really, she just brought it up and we haven't had time to discuss since then.
I know that there are two theories on taxation:
1 - Take a lot from my paycheck and I get a big refund in the spring
-or-
2 - Take less from my paycheck, leaving me more on a monthly basis, in exchange for a smaller refund, or even payment, in the spring.
I think that the reason I am okay with Uncle Sam having more of my money during the year is that I can do a little splurging once a year. I also figure that if my money is in "the system" it's being used for things much more important than me - the money is what is used to fund the programs and such that the govermnent is providing.
So - what do you do with your taxes? Are you in the keep-my-money or the take-my-money kind of planner? Why? (Have you always done it and just never changed, or do you have new reasoning for me to know?)
One year, when we lived in Manassas, we took our taxes to one of those use-us-in-the-K-Mart joints and ended up forking out $95 and sitting there for two hours or more while some guy who only does taxes as a hobby hunted and pecked into his trusty computer. When he left to use the telephone I took a glance at his computer screen only to see that he was
We're getting a sizable return this year, again. I guess when you fork out more than $15k each for childcare and mortgage interest the Feds look on you with some favor. (Though the childcare credit was only $600, which is a mere fraction of our output.)
We have gotten big refunds for the last few years, really, and that works for me. Anny has begun to ask me if we should change our witholding on our paychecks to have the money more consistently through the year or if we should continue to get the big refund at the end of the year. Really, she just brought it up and we haven't had time to discuss since then.
I know that there are two theories on taxation:
1 - Take a lot from my paycheck and I get a big refund in the spring
-or-
2 - Take less from my paycheck, leaving me more on a monthly basis, in exchange for a smaller refund, or even payment, in the spring.
I think that the reason I am okay with Uncle Sam having more of my money during the year is that I can do a little splurging once a year. I also figure that if my money is in "the system" it's being used for things much more important than me - the money is what is used to fund the programs and such that the govermnent is providing.
So - what do you do with your taxes? Are you in the keep-my-money or the take-my-money kind of planner? Why? (Have you always done it and just never changed, or do you have new reasoning for me to know?)
January 21, 2009
A Blog Interview
Saw Amy at PrettyBabies do this on her blog, and thought it was a great idea...
The Rules:
1. If you want to participate, leave me a comment saying, "Interview me." (And your e-mail address, please.)
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.
The Questions Amy Asked Me:
1. What is your biggest fear?
I honestly fear every single day that Anny and Abby will get into a massive car wreck and I will be helplessly stuck in traffic. The route they take home is major highway to major highway. Anny is a wonderful and safe driver, so I have no basis for this fear, but it's there nonetheless. I can't imagine a tomorrow without them.
2. Who is your hero?
This is a hard one. My grandfather worked his way up through the ranks at NASA, then when it was time to retire he did it right. He has always made family a priority and has been there for most of the major events in my life. He drove here from his house to be with us on the day that Abby was born. He didn't monopolize time with her or us, but just wanted to be a presence on that special day.
3. If you could eat only one food forever, without regard for nutrition, what would it be?
I'm boring - it would be pizza. I did that one summer when I decided that I was never going to fit into 34-inch-waist jeans again. I then discovered just how bad that much potassium is for a person with kidney disease, so now it's more of a treat. I still eat it, but certainly less than before. There is so much variety of pizza, and I think that's why I love it.
4. If I gave you $100,000 to go on a trip, how would you spend it? Would you spend all your time in one place, or would you go to as many places as you could? Where? What would you do when you got there?
I can not imagine spending that much money on one place, at least not just for the three of us. I would probably spend more of it on being sure that my family and friends could be with us wherever we went than on the place itself. As for the place, I think that Disney is only a couple of years off for us, but I can't ride rides anymore. I would probably feel more comfortable renting out a camp ground with lots of things to do and lots of places to relax.
5. What are your dreams for Abby's future?
I really just want her to be happy in whatever she is doing. I want her to take that one "dream job" at some point in her life, even if it means that she'll pay for it later. Of course, I want that dream job to be all that she dreams it to be, but I can't control that! I don't think that she has to be a wife, or a college student, or full time employee to be happy. I want to encourage her daily in whatever she chooses for her own life. I have people like that in my life, but they are not necessarily my parents.
The bottom line is that I want Abby to know that no matter what she chooses to do, or not do, she is valuable.
If you want me to come up with five questions for you, drop a comment or an email. Amy sure does know how to come up with good questions...
The Rules:
1. If you want to participate, leave me a comment saying, "Interview me." (And your e-mail address, please.)
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.
The Questions Amy Asked Me:
1. What is your biggest fear?
I honestly fear every single day that Anny and Abby will get into a massive car wreck and I will be helplessly stuck in traffic. The route they take home is major highway to major highway. Anny is a wonderful and safe driver, so I have no basis for this fear, but it's there nonetheless. I can't imagine a tomorrow without them.
2. Who is your hero?
This is a hard one. My grandfather worked his way up through the ranks at NASA, then when it was time to retire he did it right. He has always made family a priority and has been there for most of the major events in my life. He drove here from his house to be with us on the day that Abby was born. He didn't monopolize time with her or us, but just wanted to be a presence on that special day.
3. If you could eat only one food forever, without regard for nutrition, what would it be?
I'm boring - it would be pizza. I did that one summer when I decided that I was never going to fit into 34-inch-waist jeans again. I then discovered just how bad that much potassium is for a person with kidney disease, so now it's more of a treat. I still eat it, but certainly less than before. There is so much variety of pizza, and I think that's why I love it.
4. If I gave you $100,000 to go on a trip, how would you spend it? Would you spend all your time in one place, or would you go to as many places as you could? Where? What would you do when you got there?
I can not imagine spending that much money on one place, at least not just for the three of us. I would probably spend more of it on being sure that my family and friends could be with us wherever we went than on the place itself. As for the place, I think that Disney is only a couple of years off for us, but I can't ride rides anymore. I would probably feel more comfortable renting out a camp ground with lots of things to do and lots of places to relax.
5. What are your dreams for Abby's future?
I really just want her to be happy in whatever she is doing. I want her to take that one "dream job" at some point in her life, even if it means that she'll pay for it later. Of course, I want that dream job to be all that she dreams it to be, but I can't control that! I don't think that she has to be a wife, or a college student, or full time employee to be happy. I want to encourage her daily in whatever she chooses for her own life. I have people like that in my life, but they are not necessarily my parents.
The bottom line is that I want Abby to know that no matter what she chooses to do, or not do, she is valuable.
If you want me to come up with five questions for you, drop a comment or an email. Amy sure does know how to come up with good questions...
November 18, 2008
The Wide Web
A friend at church asked me yesterday how I chose where to put photos of Abby online, so I thought I would share a bit of how I have spread out on the world wide web, and I really have streched out to enjoy the stay!
Blogging
As far as photos, Picasa gets bulk dumps that I want others to browse through, like for events. Flickr gets a picture of Abby a day, and on occasion will get other shots that I like or want to tweak. I only put a picture on Facebook that I'm REALLY happy with, and those are not daily occurances.
Here's the thing, it looks like I would spend six hours a day working on this stuff, but really I just put in a few minutes here and there. I enjoy the larger community and conversation, and these sites are an easy outlet since I work in a small office!
So, where do you hang on the web? Any place I should add?
Blogging
- You obviously know about this blog, you're reading it!
- I also jointly blog with Anny over HERE to keep people informed about Abby as she grows, and she really is growing!
- We have a recipe storage blog, HERE, where we keep things that we would like to be able to access no matter where we are, without having to sign up for another service.
- I am also a monthly contributor for the PC(USA) blog. I was asked to answer questions as an Elder, which I am, but I have turned it around to asking Questions to the Community on very non-controversial issues like stewardship and photos on the web.
- I'm on Facebook, which I avoided for a long time at the request of my sister. I have had fun catching up with old friends. I don't accept a friend request of someone that I don't know outside of FB, so it's managable.
- I'm a member on the DadLabs Crib, where I am more direct with fatherly type questions and feedback for others. It's a great place if you want to hop over. Abby has been mentioned by name on at least one video!
- I keep up with other people with Kidney Disease through NephSpace, which is now hosted by Inspire. I don't check that site daily, but it's a good place with a lot of information.
- We use Picasa by Google to edit photos, so we naturally use it to store them online. But, we have gotten away from being good at that because I've started posting on Flickr.
- I post daily pictures to Flickr. It's Yahoo's storage program, but does not have nearly as nice of a editing software. I use Flickr because there is more community there, and am friends with a bunch of other parents that are doing a picture-a-day and are at various stages in that process.
- Right now I am the webmaster for Laurel Presbyterian Church, my church. Once I got everything set up, it's much more just regular upkeep and changing things on the front page.
- At work I help out on our website, too. I am in charge of updating committee information as well as information for all of the various teams that work for the committees. Right now I'm in the process of updating the sites that we list all of our churches on to include their December worship services. It's tedious, but gratifying when it's done.
As far as photos, Picasa gets bulk dumps that I want others to browse through, like for events. Flickr gets a picture of Abby a day, and on occasion will get other shots that I like or want to tweak. I only put a picture on Facebook that I'm REALLY happy with, and those are not daily occurances.
Here's the thing, it looks like I would spend six hours a day working on this stuff, but really I just put in a few minutes here and there. I enjoy the larger community and conversation, and these sites are an easy outlet since I work in a small office!
So, where do you hang on the web? Any place I should add?
November 11, 2008
It's Only a Word, Right?
Anny and I have been in conversation for about six years now about the use of a word. Turns out that the dictionary supports both of us (Stupid Websters, won't pick a side!) so that was of no use.
The word causing such great debate? Cuddle.
You can imagine how many times the word "cuddle" gets used when you have the most adorable toddler in the world, so it drives one of us crazy when it is used in an alternative fashion. I will not say which way I think is right and which side Anny falls on, so that I don't skew the results.
So, using the poll feature on the right, please choose which of the following is correct in your opinion:
So, please vote on the right.
The word causing such great debate? Cuddle.
You can imagine how many times the word "cuddle" gets used when you have the most adorable toddler in the world, so it drives one of us crazy when it is used in an alternative fashion. I will not say which way I think is right and which side Anny falls on, so that I don't skew the results.
So, using the poll feature on the right, please choose which of the following is correct in your opinion:
- Abby's napping, so I'm going to go cuddle her.
- Abby's napping, so I'm going to go cuddle with her.
So, please vote on the right.
November 07, 2008
10,000!
Here is #10,000 on my SiteMeter Page
Okay - so I had not payed attention to my statcounter for more than a week, but I am proud to say that this morning I received my 10,000th hit! I know it's not as big as a lot of other places, but it's big for me!
So, whoever checks the blog from in/around Towson and came over from Abby's site - show yourself! I'll send you something to celebrate. It might be something expensive (probably not) or something in the form of home made from Abby. (since you checked her site first, I'm guessing that whoever you are you're okay with it!)
(This also counts as my second posting for today! Woo Hoo!)
Okay - so I had not payed attention to my statcounter for more than a week, but I am proud to say that this morning I received my 10,000th hit! I know it's not as big as a lot of other places, but it's big for me!
So, whoever checks the blog from in/around Towson and came over from Abby's site - show yourself! I'll send you something to celebrate. It might be something expensive (probably not) or something in the form of home made from Abby. (since you checked her site first, I'm guessing that whoever you are you're okay with it!)
(This also counts as my second posting for today! Woo Hoo!)
September 26, 2008
So Much Stuff, So Little Time
I have four half-written posts that are not ready to be finished today. Instead, I'll skim over a few topics and try to start some trouble....
1 - Tonight's scheduled debate should go on as scheduled. JM and BO were in town yesteraday, as they should have been, but there is no need for them to stick around and cloud the process that already has too many hands in the pot. I think that McCain is too nervous about having his previous comments coming back to hit him at this particular time. (Think: "I don't really understand budgets" from earlier this year.) Obama is right to have said that the president needs to know how to handle more than one thing at once, and if McCain can not take the time to answer questions to the American people then I really do not want him in charge come January.
2 - Abby's sleep routine was beautiful this week, until last night. I suppose that one night out of six is good for such a major change. We have made a conscious decision not to jump-and-bolt in the middle of the night when she wakes up and cries. The first night was hard - she woke up and screamed on three occasions. The second night it was twice. The third and fourth were two screaming fits. Then we got two nights of peaceful slumber for all three of us. Now she's back to cutting teeth, but I'm hopeful that we will have better nights ahead now that we have set up good habits.
3 - The National Book Festival is tomorrow on the National Mall. We were planning to go in the morning, but they're calling for rain. I think we're going in the afternoon so that we can see what it's like. They have a large section for children, teens and family books and exhibits. (If you're going, let me know and maybe we can meet up. If you weren't planning to go, but want to hang out, we would love company!)
4 - The draft posts are: Family Routines; Building Communities; Good Healthcare and a Single Doctor. They're all pretty in depth and I want to be sure that I flesh them out. Maybe I'll do that while watching TV this evening....
5 - I'm re-organizing my Itunes at home. I went through all of our CD's and converted the songs that we wanted to mp3's so that we don't have as much to store in the house. That was a fun project and I got to listen to a lot of music that I hadn't heard in a LONG time. Hello Vertical Horizon! Now that I've put an additional 600+ songs onto our computer, I've been spending time between the girls leaving for school and my leaving for work sorting out playlists. It's fun, but takes a long time since I'm looking through 4906 songs!
6 - How are you? What are you up to? If I was to read ONE blog to expand my reading today, where would you suggest I read?
1 - Tonight's scheduled debate should go on as scheduled. JM and BO were in town yesteraday, as they should have been, but there is no need for them to stick around and cloud the process that already has too many hands in the pot. I think that McCain is too nervous about having his previous comments coming back to hit him at this particular time. (Think: "I don't really understand budgets" from earlier this year.) Obama is right to have said that the president needs to know how to handle more than one thing at once, and if McCain can not take the time to answer questions to the American people then I really do not want him in charge come January.
2 - Abby's sleep routine was beautiful this week, until last night. I suppose that one night out of six is good for such a major change. We have made a conscious decision not to jump-and-bolt in the middle of the night when she wakes up and cries. The first night was hard - she woke up and screamed on three occasions. The second night it was twice. The third and fourth were two screaming fits. Then we got two nights of peaceful slumber for all three of us. Now she's back to cutting teeth, but I'm hopeful that we will have better nights ahead now that we have set up good habits.
3 - The National Book Festival is tomorrow on the National Mall. We were planning to go in the morning, but they're calling for rain. I think we're going in the afternoon so that we can see what it's like. They have a large section for children, teens and family books and exhibits. (If you're going, let me know and maybe we can meet up. If you weren't planning to go, but want to hang out, we would love company!)
4 - The draft posts are: Family Routines; Building Communities; Good Healthcare and a Single Doctor. They're all pretty in depth and I want to be sure that I flesh them out. Maybe I'll do that while watching TV this evening....
5 - I'm re-organizing my Itunes at home. I went through all of our CD's and converted the songs that we wanted to mp3's so that we don't have as much to store in the house. That was a fun project and I got to listen to a lot of music that I hadn't heard in a LONG time. Hello Vertical Horizon! Now that I've put an additional 600+ songs onto our computer, I've been spending time between the girls leaving for school and my leaving for work sorting out playlists. It's fun, but takes a long time since I'm looking through 4906 songs!
6 - How are you? What are you up to? If I was to read ONE blog to expand my reading today, where would you suggest I read?
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