Well rested . . . still cynical

Got a decent night's sleep last night for the first time in a while. So hopefully this will not read, as much, like insomnniacal raving.

I'm thinking of moving the computer. It sits beside the television right now. And the news is on. And I want to comment on everything I see. Like the commercial I'm seeing right now. Bunch of teens vowing to take a stand against violence. Super. They'll be easy to eliminate by those that have taken a vow of power, greed and wealth. You know, politicians, senators.

Sigh. So cynical so early in the morning. Maybe if I sleep well for a full week. I'm willing to experiment.

I think the computer would be better downstairs. There I can sit quietly, without TV, and muse about the hilarious things my children do and dispense my child-rearing wisdom; my political genius and my moral outrage. Those are the things that make blogging fun.

On the news now? Further attempts to destroy Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. Apparently a friend of his, or someone he once knew, has been arrested for some drug thing. Ooooo. The reporter is practically drooling. It's kinda sad. Seems if you shook hands with his dentist's receptionist's, boyfriend's, mother's auto mechanic, you better watch out. Toronto media is watching you, hoping, dreaming, that when you pray in church, you don't kneel correctly. It'll be front page news.

I mean, so the guy is facing drug charges. If police were a little more on the ball, Justin Trudeau would be facing drug charges. I mean, the boy admitted to it. (A lawmaker breaking the law? Shocking!) That was news for a day or two. If he'd been a friend of Rob Ford, we'd still be hearing about it. But he's not. We're hearing more about some guy who drove Ford's car a couple of times. How screwed up is that?

It really is difficult to stay on a theme when the news is on.

Have a good Thursday.

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving, once again.

So, I guess I should probably just follow suit and list 10 things for which I am thankful. (See, I almost said "10 things I am thankful for." Bad, wrong. This is why we write for no good reason. Just to practice.)

Oh yeah, 10 things . . .

1. I am thankful for my family. And by that I mean not only my wife and my boys, but my brothers, sisters and mother. So happy to spend this day with Neomom, Sonwun and Sontoo. Would be nice if I could be with my brothers, sisters, their spouses and kids, grandkids and all of that too. But not this year. Still galactically (looked it up, pretty sure it's spelled right) thankful they are in my life and only a phone call away when needed.

2. Thankful to be living in the Great White North. It's not a perfect country, but it's pretty damn good. Grab a beer and join me in a toast!

3. Thankful for the awesome summer I had with the boys and the Mrs. Thankful we all LOVE camping. Something I hope to share with them for a long, long, seriously long time to come.

4. Thankful someone suggested it was possible to backdate a blog, so that it looks like I'm keeping up with Blogtober. Even more thankful I figured out how to do it.

5. Thankful for the Wii on rainy days.

6. Thankful for Robinson Dill Pickles and what they represent.

7. I'm thankful for Words with Friends. I've always loved Scrabble, and now I can play it with my friends and family in a convenient and fun way! Awesome. 

Guess I should expand this one a little. While technology has its good and bad points, today I choose to be thankful for it. The internet, Skype, email all the good stuff that lets me stay in touch in a bigger way with family and friends and we move from place to place.

And, on days like today, I can blog, keep track of my Fantasy Football team, play Words with Friends with my sisters and mom and rule the seas in Battle Pirates . . . all at once!

8. I'm thankful for humour. In almost all of its forms. 

9. I'm thankful that the guy who's hosting today's Thanksgiving Dinner makes his own beer . . . and loves to share it!

10. And finally, I'm thankful that I could come up with this list. Given the time, I know I could come up with a meaningful top 100 instead of this random 10. And for that, I am also thankful.

Have a great turkey day! Cheers!

Great Day!

Okay, that was a great day!

After a week of being cooped up in the house, Mother Nature granted us a beautiful day yesterday; perfect for a trip to the toboggan hill. As usual, I posted our plans on Facebook, hoping we'd get a big ol' party together on the hill.

As usual, the response was not huge. But, as is not usual, we actually did get one family out to share the day with us. And it was AWESOME!

I mean, the boys enjoy tobogganing and all, but after about 20 minutes on the hill yesterday they'd had enough and were ready to head home. It was then that our friends showed up. And with two new kids, close to their own ages to play with, Sonwun and Sontoo got their second wind.

It was so much fun to watch them all sliding and tumbling and crashing and laughing their way down the hill, over and over and over. And this time, the batteries were fully charged in my camcorder so I could catch the action in HD splendour!

We tuckered 'em all out and then headed back to our place for hot chocolate, a good chat, and some quality time with my movie editing program. It's Apple's iMovie and, honestly, it makes me look good. So easy to use. And the clips, when thrown together, with a little Ozzy for background music, looked great. 

Unfortunately, I can't upload it to YouTube with the Ozzy music. Something about copyright, blah, blah, blah. So I had to redo it with some generic muzak, but I still think it looks pretty cool.

Sontoo had one good wipeout on the hill with a friend, but he's fine. Just a little pissed off about getting snow in his face.

Anyhoo, looks like another great weather day here in Portage La Prairie, so we'll probably be heading out for a nice walk on a frozen creek nearby. Oh, and here's yesterday's video. Enjoy!

Hello Again

Well, what can I say. It's been a while, once again.

Much has happened in the last few weeks, but I won't bore you with all the details. But, in brief, I lost a friend a few weeks back in a car accident. Evan was too young, at 20. He and his family were among the first to welcome us to Gimli back in 2001, when we arrived. He was 12 at the time and I watched him grow up in this small town, where everyone knows everyone. He went from batboy and spectator to player on the slo-pitch team his father and I played on. He went from school boy to working man at the local grocery store. He went from trying to sneak into the bar I worked at, to walking in legitimately. And through it all, this kid had an omnipresent smile that he shared with one and all.

I still feel sick for his family— a really great group of friendly, outgoing people. He came by his smile and sense of humour honestly.

About a week later, my mother's husband passed away. Elvin was one of the most easy-going, friendly guys you'd want to meet. I am happy that I was able to enjoy one of our shared passions, fishing, at least once in the time we knew each other. We spent a week together a year or two back, fishing the Winnipeg River near Kenora. It was a good week and my first real opportunity to get to know him. He will be missed.

But I'm back and, I hope, will continue where I left off in my life as a stay-at-home dad.

So, it's Monday morning. The boys are still asleep, as is Neomom. I'm half an hour away from my morning treadmill run.

I'm also anticipating the arrival of my brother, sister and father. They are driving in from Kelowna, BC, leaving this morning. Should take a few days. Sonwun is very, very excited about them coming and asks each morning if they will arrive "this day."

He has big plans for them. They need to see his room, they need to go swimming, they need to see him play soccer and they need to go bowling with him. And that's the abbreviated list.

This morning, it's swimming lessons for Sonwun and then soccer tonight, weather permitting.

Anyhoo, that's all I've got this morning. I hope to resume my regularly scheduled blogging in the coming weeks. I miss the writing and the feedback.

Have a great day!

New Plan

Well, happy Monday!

I had big plans for this week, huge plans. Plans that would have been so very, very, very much fun. But some other bugger won the $40 million Lotto 649 jackpot, so I must once again put my big plans on hold.

So, new kid at playgroup. Turns out he's a friend of Sonwun from preschool and Sonwun was very excited to see him at playgroup. And I, therefore, was excited for him, ever so briefly.

The other kid? Let's call him, oh, I don't know, Fire.

And let's call Sonwun, um, Gasoline.

Now let's be clear. I have no delusions about my son. He's no angel. But, like gasoline, he's not too dangerous when properly controlled and contained. However, just below the surface he's a cauldron of potential energy just waiting to be ignited.

Enter Fire. Fire is, by nature, destructive. Left unattended, it grows and grows, consuming all in its path. And when it finds a can of gas . . .

Is that the karma train I'm hearing? Somewhere, some parent is blogging about Pit, my son, the Psycho in Training. Someone who has witnessed Fire and Gasoline careening about the bouncy house at playgroup with reckless disregard for their flying feet and the two-year-olds around them. Someone who watched the deadly duo take over the plastic playhouse and forbid entry to others. Someone whose readers are wondering, where is the parent?

Well, I'm there. And I'm doing my best to stay on top of the mayhem. But with the addition of fire, gasoline is occupying almost all of my time at playgroup, leaving little for the ever-clingy Sontoo.

My little gas can is still only 4. But I guess it's an opportunity to impart as many little life lessons as his little brain will absorb. Lessons about not following the crowd, about including others, about why flying tackles and headlocks are not generally welcome by strangers.

Anyhoo, that's my challenge in the coming weeks.

As for this week, instead of shopping for a nice condo in Whistler Village with my lottery winnings, I will be washing the vomit out of Sonwun's bedding, as this morning at 2, he woke up with a bad stomach. He's still asleep now, at 6:35 a.m., and here's hoping he feels better when he wakes up.

Neomom left half an hour ago for the airport and will be in Winnipeg for two days for court. Could be a long day.

In any case, have a great Monday, and a great week!

New Year ahead

Well, it's over.

The presents are all unwrapped, the tree is fading fast and there's a mountain of leftover turkey and trimmings in the refrigerator. Christmas 2009 is a memory.

Sonwun and Sontoo seem happy with their haul - and why not. They got more stuff than seems right. Sonwun was awake bright and early Christmas morning and stumbled down the stairs wide-eyed at the Christmas booty. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh," he kept repeating. I'm not even sure where he came up with that expression, as it's not one Neomom or I use. Maybe preschool.

At four years old, Sonwun is at the peak (I hope) of the unabashed greed phase of his existence. He is not yet able to filter or stifle his verbal expressions of desire for everything he sees on television commercials or everything he sees under a Christmas tree. "Is that mine?" "I wanted that." "Can I open that one?"

I realize it's just part of being his age. But still, it's a little disconcerting on Christmas morning to watch him rip open one present with his eye on three others under the tree. We like to take our time opening gifts and he was having none of it. As soon as he was done shredding paper and identifying one gift, he was rabidly seeking the next, or seeking what his younger brother was holding.

I know, I know. He's just being a four-year-old.

Sontoo, on the other hand, at almost-two, is still happy to play with the wrapping paper; still happy to get one thing and go sit in a corner and play with it for an hour. He'd have been happy just with the colourful boxes cast off by his older brother. That's a little easier to watch.

Anyway, we survived and the big dinner on Boxing Day went off without any major hitches. No turkey disasters (in fact, compliments received on juiciness of bird - yay!) no drunken stupidity, children were well behaved. It was pretty good. Special thanks to Mom to J & J for the mashed potato suggestion. Worked very well and made the big day a little less stressful.

The New Year is approaching fast and I will admit it's always been one of the tougher times in my life. I think I spend too much time pondering the year gone by and, maybe, not enough looking ahead.

I guess I figure at the beginning of a new year, I should be able to look back at the last 52 weeks and be able to say I've discovered something deep and meaningful about life. I should have a better handle on happiness; how to achieve it, maintain it and pass it on to my children.

I guess that's a lot to ask of a couple of days of soul-searching. But here's what I've come up with for this year.

Make friends. Be a friend. Work to maintain friendships. Friends are important, as Sonwun reminds me on a regular basis. He is starving for friends, for people his age to come to his house and play with him.

And I realize, so am I. One good friend, I think, is worth his or her weight in gold.

And good friends are not easy to come by when you're changing your address every few years; when you're changing your lifestyle. Over the last four years, I have entered the married with children phase and have moved about 800 kilometres. I need a friend, or friends, who understand. I'm a stay-at-home dad and, as such, I need a friend, or friends, who understand this. These are not easy people to find.

On the plus side, I have many "virtual friends," most of whom were once real-life friends. But time and geography has changed that. We'll talk on the phone once in a while, swap emails a few times a year. But we can't sit down together and watch a football game. We can't go out and grab a beer and play pool. We can't smack each other upside the head when it's needed. Only a true friend will tell you when you're being an asshole and I think we all need to hear that once in a while.

Anyway, I have now officially entered the second phase of my annual New Year review. I'm ready to smack myself upside the head and tell myself to stop wallowing in the negative. Find the positive, reinforce it and forge into the year ahead.

I guess I have something to learn from both of my boys. From Sontoo, relax and enjoy the pretty paper. It's all yours and it makes cool noises when you squeeze it. It can be a plane, a ball or a hat. Life is what you make it.

And from Sonwun, if you want something, ask for it, chase it, earn it, go get it. Don't whine about it. Life is full of new and interesting experiences, people and potential friends. Yeah, enjoy what you have, but never stop looking under the tree.

Happy Monday!

Common Ground

Well, good morning all and Happy Monday!

Got to admit I'm not feeling good about the day. Forecast is rain and I'm trying to figure out something to do with Sonwun and Sontoo today that is not one of the three or four things we've been doing for the last week.

I found a phone number for a "Parents and Tots" group here in Thompson and I'm going to give them a call. I am hoping there is at least one other Dad there, as I've done the Playgroup thing before and have not really enjoyed it.

Sure, some of the moms try to make you feel welcome, but once the coffee's served and the discussions start, I know I don't fit in. And fair enough. I didn't go through childbirth, I didn't get stitched "down there," and I have never experienced the irritation of cracked nipples. I don't care to "have my colours done," or listen to a cosmetics lecture. I'm not interested in "washing the grey right out of my hair," and I don't care about who's "seeing" who in town.

On the other hand, most of the mommy's don't care that it's gonna be a bitch to replace the eavestroughs. Not too many I've found can offer tips on disassembling and replacing a timer on an old washing machine or hooking up a new PVR. They don't watch Ultimate Fighting Championships, or Hell's Kitchen and they have no interest in discussing which Bond was the best. (And they can get downright nasty if you want to discuss which Bond girl had the nicest body!)

And there aren't many that can truly appreciate the comedic genius in such film classics as Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Caddy Shack, Strange Brew or Uncle Buck. (Most are too young as well).

But hey, there is common ground. I'm sure we have all done battle with a nasty case of diaper rash. We've all fixed more than a few boo-boos, many of us know what it feels like to be home alone all day with two kids under five. We know what it's like to spend an hour or two cooking something special for said kids, only to have it dumped on the floor and fed to the dog. And I'm sure that more than one of us knows the mind-blowing irritation of finding junior has whipped off his diaper and painted the couch with its contents.

But once again, it's not about us, it's not about me. It's about Sonwun and Sontoo having a chance to play somewhere other than their own living room or bedroom. It's about them having the chance to play with kids their own age.

And, if I have to be honest, these playgroup visits, for me, are ultimately about the hope, against hope, of finding another stay-at-home dad, another guy whose wife joined the RCMP, who agrees that one parent needs to be home to raise the kids and has taken on the challenge. Someone who knows what it's like to move to a new town every so often and start again. And someone who is not a total nut-job. Or, at the very least, the same kind of nut-job that I am.

Storm Ahead

The day dawns in a dreary way. Thunder, rain and more to come.

But it's not so bad. It will be an indoor day and a chance to further explore the new house with Sonwun and Sontoo.

Yesterday we attended our first RCMP party in Thompson. It was good. Nice bunch of people and a few of them have kids in the same age range as our two. It's a smaller group here, in that the Ident and MCU folks tend to hang out together and the general duty folks do the same.

It's somewhat comforting to know, and meet, others in the same boat; others who are frustrated by the land prices in Thompson, others who can't believe the level of service at stores in town (at the Timmy Ho drive-through, the voice on the speaker actually said to one of the party-goers, "Welcome to hell, what do you want.") and others who are blown away by the amount of broken glass scattered around the playgrounds.

And it's nice to know there are others who have been through the "year of hell" that we are about to embark upon. It will begin August 17 when the wife heads to Ottawa for seven weeks of ident training, leaving Sonwun and Sontoo in my hands 24-7. That will be followed by 12 months that the wife will be working during the day and studying at night to complete the second phase of training. We're told we won't see much of each other and we are doing our best to mentally prepare for that. But I know that no matter how much we prepare, it's going to be tough.

At the party yesterday, I was promised help from those that have completed their year of hell. A day out here, someone to blow off steam with, a dinner there - the kinds of things we will need to survive.

So I guess we'll enjoy the coming month, scour the community for "Mommy and Me" groups that will accept Daddies, enroll Sonwun in swimming lessons, or music lessons or something to stimulate his mind and provide friends his own age. And we need to find a reliable babysitter or two, for the nights I need to escape.