{Help Me Choose My (Semi)Permanent Look}
Take a look at this template then go to my mirror site and look at my other template and let me know which one you prefer. Voting will end Monday Night at 11:59PM.PLEASE VOTE and Leave comments. Thanks.
Click here to see the other template
PS. FYI, do not use Bravenet Blog Polls. They create a nightmare of pop-ups for your readers. Just thought you should know. Instead use Blog Poll. You don't even need to sign up for an account. Just thought you should know.
{My Wife Thinks I'm F**king Insane}
So, just a couple posts ago, I mentioned that I was hoping that I could become a SAHD (stay at home dad) now that Tired Tunia has gotten herself a full time gig. I asked for any help or ideas from anyone that may know of some good home based/ part time work I could do to earn money to make ends meet. Shannon over at Adventures of Darth Daddy offered me what I thought were some good ideas. One idea in particular seemed to really catch TT's attention.Shannon Says:I've toyed, occasionally, with the idea of a home based day care. If I gotta be here to watch my own kids, why not get paid for throwing a few more in the mix? People are always looking for reliable day care. The down side to this is it kills any spontaneity. You cant just say "Boys - nothing on TV...let's go to the zoo".
I responded:...been kicking around the Daddy Daycare. Not sure our house could support it though. I do know somebody I could talk to though. How do you think the actual reception for a man running a day care would be?Not long after I posted my response I received the following e-mails from TT respectively titled "Are you f**king insane???" and "You are nuts."
E-mail #1: Hi, just read one of your comments on your blog. NO WE ARE NOT RUNNING A HOME DAYCARE. I'll give up my job at the library first. Are you nuts?????
Oh wait, yes you are!
Tunia
The sane one
(I just wanted to leave that part in about "8-minute-later" because I thought it was funny. Also, it is very true.)E-mail #2: Oh, by the way, I wouldn't leave my kids in a daddy day care. Maybe if I knew the guy for a long time. But definitely not if it was just in the newspaper and I was calling out of the blue. THERE"S SOME BLOG MATERIAL FOR YOU! Your own wife is a horrid man-suspicious person!!! Too bad, my kids are more important than being politically correct and gender sensitive, I don't give a rats ass what you and your penis thinks! Just thought you might like to know.
Tunia "the-8-minute-later" (the eliminator??? get it, ha ha) (a new
nickname I have received at work for being perpetually 8 minutes
late--apparently they think the number will go up now that I finally have
gotten the full time job. Glad to know they have confidence in me
So, what do you all think? Is TT right to be suspicious of men when it comes to caring for children? Is there statistical evidence that you know of to back her up? Does all our liberal jabbering mean nothing when it comes down to putting our kids where our mouths are? What about K - 6 school teachers?
I would really like to hear everyone's comments.
{Another New Look.}
Well, here it is. Another new template. I found this one on Blogskins. Yes dear, it was free. I did have to do some basic editing to it, but that only took me about 1/2 an hour. Let me know what you think.I have also eliminated a lot of the add ons that were in my sidebar. And because my posts tend to be image heavy I have limited the number of posts on the main page to only 3. Hopefully that will help in load speed.
Now, maybe I can win at "Battle of the Blogs" over on Blogexplosion.
Don't forget, I want to hear what you think. Leave your comments - or use the tagboard. If nobody uses it, I'm gonna lose it soon.
Monday, August 08, 2005
{Good News/Bad News}
I am so close I can taste it. For 4 years I have wanted to be a Stay-At-Home-Dad. Now it looks like there is a slim - and I mean slim chance it could happen. Below is the story.Tired Tunia has worked at the local library for the last 3 1/2 years as a part time children's' librarian. As she has worked, she has built a good reputation for herself - both with the clientele and with the management. She has been positioning herself for a full time position and now, when we had given up hope, one has presented itself. That's GREAT you say. Well.... hold on now.
Here's the problem(s.) First - The almighty $$$. If I were to just quit and have Tunia bring home the bacon, we would take a 40% loss on our income. Now, we could probably do away with a lot of things, but I don't know about 40%. Our mortgage alone would be about $100 more than her gross would be for two weeks. So, I would have to find a way to make up at least 1/2 the loss (or about 10 - 12 K.) Unfortunately, there are not a whole lot of part time jobs that I qualify for that pay $15/hour. I have never heard of a part time production supervisor. Have you?
Of course, I could continue to work, take care of the kiddos during the day and work my regular 7pm - 7am shift 4 days a week. Sleep is highly over rated, right? Or, we could stick the kids into some commercial day care for 4 days a week and I could give up on being a SAHD. But neither Tunia nor I are comfortable with that, plus it would eat up a significant portion of the money she would bring home, so would it be worth it? And what about Pre-school for Bombaloo? If both of us are working, how will she get to keep going?
We did have a home based day care lined up with somebody we know and trust very much. But the librarian Tunia is replacing dilly dallied so much deciding if she was going to stay home with her new baby, our friend had to take on somebody else's kids and is now full.
So - Now what? Tunia needs to take this job. She deserves it. She has been at home for 4 years. Full time children's' librarian jobs do not come around very often in this area. It could be years before another opportunity arises. I, on the other hand, really don't like what I am doing and would love to be the primary care taker.
Well, I guess for now we will just find somebody to take the kiddos for the time being. I will begin looking for good part time work and hopefully something will come along after a few months and we can get Bombaloo back into her Pre-School.
Anyway, I know at least a significant portion of my readership are At-Home parents. Do you have ideas or suggestions? Do you know of any legitimate home based work? Do any of you hold part time jobs to help make ends meet? What are they? Anything you can tell me would be of great help. Thanks, and wish us luck.
Thursday, August 04, 2005
{My Wedding Ring is Gone!}
Being an obsessive compulsive, the smallest things can really bug me. The slightest change in my routine, an unexpected event or something out of place. Today I had to give up my wedding ring so Tired Tunia could take it to a psychic party. Now I feel naked. My hand doesn't make the same sound when I tap the table. My thumb has nothing to rotate while I count.
And I can't help thinking about what the psychic is going to tell her as a result of "reading" my ring. Will she uncover all of my deep dark secrets? Will the Tunia discover things about me that I have kept hidden deep in the most unspeakable reaches of my mind?
Well, just in case this nut person exposes me for the freak that I am, I have decided to confess everything. Let the freak show begin.
- I am a man.
- I have children.
- I work for a living.
- I like beer.
- I live in a house.
- Someday, I will die.
- I pay taxes.
- We own a dog. (Although, she might only get that because Tired Tunia and the kids are covered in dog fur.)
- Sometimes, I am happy.
- Sometimes, I am not happy.
Well, I think that covers everything that might come out in this psychic reading. I hope none of this was too shocking for you. If I have offended anyone with my admissions, I apologize.
**For those of you that read the original version of this post, this is what I meant to write the first time. Let's just pretend the other version never happened. Thanks.
{A Little Too Much Sharing}
I have tabled my previous post (100 Things About Me) for editing. I think I may have shared a little too much.If that doesn't leave you wishing you had read it, I don't know what will.Sorry to those that commented already.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
{I Guess I Can Be A Jerk Too.}
So, I went out last night to get gas so I wouldn't have to after work. It was about 10:00PM. While I was there I saw a man and his son leaving the gas station. The boy was about 7 or 8, shirtless and scrawny. The dad was also scrawny, wearing a white tanktop undershirt (aka wifebeater) and carrying a bag I assumed held beer in it. My first thought was "Jeez. That poor kid. What chance does he have?"As I watched them cross the parking lot I saw the man reach out and tousle the boy's hair. Then as they approached the street he gently reached down and took his son's hand, smiled at him and carefully crossed the street. At this point I realized I was being judgmental and even prejudiced. I had no reason to condemn the father of this boy on first sight. I did not know why they were out late. Perhaps the boy had had a nightmare and Dad walked him over to the gas station for ice cream to make him feel better. Whatever my reasons, I was wrong to judge him so quickly and so harshly. It is very likely, as was demonstrated by his small displays of affection, that he is a loving, caring and involved father who is doing everything he can to give his child the best life he can. Just like I am doing. And you are too.So, to all the parents and people I have passed judgment on, whether you were at Wal-Mart, live in a trailer park, or are just struggling to do the best you can, I apologize. I should know better. It has been done to me, and I hated it. I will try to refrain from such stupid behavior in the future.
