I just got back from Florida. It was nice, minus the tropical storm that hit Ft. Lauderdale while we were there. We went to the beach, Lion Country Safari, a casino, and a few other places.
The beach was great. We had 10 foot waves, so I got to do some body-boarding. The kids asked me to take them out to the deeper waters, but the waves were too much for them. They got scared (especially Riene,) so I took them back in to shore. All the same, they had a blast playing in the surf and building sand castles with their grandmother and great-grandmother. The body-boarding was pretty awesome - I caught one wave from about 100 yards out that slammed me to the bottom and tumbled me 9 or 10 times before washing me up on the beach in what seemed like only a few seconds.
Lion Country Safari was ok. It was miserably hot, so all the animals were in hiding. The lions were hiding in their concrete dens. The white rhinos were hiding under their sheds. The various species of antelope, wild mules, and other such animals were all hiding under trees. Plus, there was some really annoying driver in a silver Jeep Liberty that kept stopping for literally no reason in the middle of the road, looking at grass. I tricked him pretty well though - I passed him, then stopped where there was nothing, pretended to see something and point. So naturally, he stopped and sat there for a good 15 minutes trying to figure out what I had "seen."
LCS has some kiddie rides and a water park too, so we ended up playing there for a bit afterwards. Riene and Bear had a blast on the carousel and a mock-Disney Dumbo ride. We also went up on a ferris wheel that had a pretty nice view of the park and some of the Everglades. Bear nearly kicked one of his sandals off at the top; I caught it as it was falling out of the gate.
We played in the water park area for a while. It was mostly water spraying devices, but they did have an inflatable water slide for the kids with a 10 minute line to get on. Bear got a hold of one of the water cannons in the park area and turned it on parents who were hiding in the shade and not wearing bathing suits. The panic that caused was pure hilarity.
I went to the Hard Rock Casino with my mom one of the nights we were there. Going there was fun, but it really wasn't my kind of place. It looked like the Seminole were trying to make a knock-off of Vegas on tribal lands. You had to wind your way past no less than 15 bars just to make it to the casino, and there were signs up all over the place that said "What Happens in Vegas Happens Here!" I'm assuming that's somewhat true, as there were scantily-clad females and designer shops all over the place, but I didn't spot an Elvis impersonator anywhere. The Indians should probably get right on that and the hookers if they really want to emulate Vegas. (Even if they do, I'm still most likely not going back there. Not my kind of place in the least.)
Aside from the back pain, the drive to and from Ft. Lauderdale wasn't too bad. It took me about thirteen hours to get there, and maybe nine to get back. I had to stop a lot on the way down because of back cramps and spasms. It's really not kosher to drive that far a few months after breaking vertebrae. It's just too much strain. The way back, I just slammed a lot of coffee and forced myself to keep going. The kids were asleep a third of the way and I really wanted it to be over with.
When I got home, I was greated by slashed blinds in all the front-facing windows of the house. Apparently, Furball (Maria's stupid cat that she didn't take with her when she took the tv and everything else of value out of the house) didn't like being left in the house alone for that long. It took me a good three hours to clean up the mess he made. He knocked over tables, cleared off the counter, dragged a bag of cat food through the house, puked on the carpets, and kicked cat litter all over the bathroom. What a jerk! Next time I'm leaving him outside and he can eat crickets if he's hungry.
Ahh yes, off topic here: I'm at 11% body fat! The top part of my abs are just starting to come out. I figure another 2 to 4 weeks and I'll have six pack abs. It's pretty exciting to know I've actually surpassed my original goal of 12% bodyfat and so close to my other goal of a ripped stomach. Hooray for Zoidberg!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Yum, Roasted Marshmallows!
I've been pretty busy around here the past few days. It seems like there's always so much cleaning to do and preparation for the upcoming school year. Anytime I think I'm done, more things just pop out at me.
The kids have been having fun though. They've been playing in the pool (and the sprinkler). We went to the zoo, the park, and had quite a few trips to the store. In fact, both of them were pestering me to take them to the dollar store so they could look around. Riene and Bear are both becoming skilled window-shoppers.
I got a notice from my lawyer that I'd have to get a guardian ad litem to end the insanity coming from Maria. I don't know what's going to happen with that. It makes no sense to me. Plus, I really didn't want to spend more money on this divorce. I have no choice though.
Riene's already registered for school, but I need to get Bear taken care of. He'll be going into 4k. I'm pretty sure he'll like it, he seemed really excited about being able to go. It'll give me the opportunity to go to school again, at least.
Oh yes, we roasted marshmallows yesterday while I was smoking more chicken. The kids ate five marshmallows each. They both kept jamming theirs into the ashes, so we went through quite a few more than 10 marshmallows.
The kids have been having fun though. They've been playing in the pool (and the sprinkler). We went to the zoo, the park, and had quite a few trips to the store. In fact, both of them were pestering me to take them to the dollar store so they could look around. Riene and Bear are both becoming skilled window-shoppers.
I got a notice from my lawyer that I'd have to get a guardian ad litem to end the insanity coming from Maria. I don't know what's going to happen with that. It makes no sense to me. Plus, I really didn't want to spend more money on this divorce. I have no choice though.
Riene's already registered for school, but I need to get Bear taken care of. He'll be going into 4k. I'm pretty sure he'll like it, he seemed really excited about being able to go. It'll give me the opportunity to go to school again, at least.
Oh yes, we roasted marshmallows yesterday while I was smoking more chicken. The kids ate five marshmallows each. They both kept jamming theirs into the ashes, so we went through quite a few more than 10 marshmallows.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Happy belated 4th!
I had a pretty busy weekend. On Friday, I bought fireworks. They didn't make it through the night. Next time I buy fireworks, it's going to have to be the same day I'm supposed to set them off. Otherwise, the kids go crazy until I set a few off, and I'm not one to stop lighting them up after hearing my two applaud the first few. They didn't last nearly long enough.
On the third, we went out to quite a few places. We had Taco Bell for lunch. Riene got nachos bell grande, minus tomato, and Bear got a kid's meal. The kid's meal had a pretty cool 3-d Superman standup and a 3d poster with the red-and-blue 3d glasses. Riene wasn't upset that she didn't get a toy. She was actually proud that she got a "grown up meal."
We went to walmart, again. Twice, actually - the first time the kids got to pick out toys. The second time, I wouldn't even let them look at the toys because I knew they'd pester me until I let them get toys. I give in too easily sometimes.
On Saturday night, all my neighbors were blasting off mortars. It was a pretty sweet show for the 3rd, but it didn't compare to what I got to see on the 4th. A church was doing a display in one of their member's yards (which happens to be behind my place,) and there was an accidental fire in the display area. A few thousand dollar's worth of mortars went off in about a 10-minute span. I thought it was just a bunch of drunks being dumb, but it ended up on the news. That explained pretty quickly how they were able to blast them all off at once like I saw!
On the day of the 4th, I smoked a chicken and a mega pack of hotdogs. There's still a little bit of both left. That reminds me, I need to chop up more wood because grocery day is coming soon and I'll have another 20ish pounds of chicken to smoke so I can stick to my diet.
No word on what's up with Maria, but I was assured that regardless of whether or not she gives up her rights, she's going to be paying child support until both kids turn 18 or she dies, whichever comes first.
On the third, we went out to quite a few places. We had Taco Bell for lunch. Riene got nachos bell grande, minus tomato, and Bear got a kid's meal. The kid's meal had a pretty cool 3-d Superman standup and a 3d poster with the red-and-blue 3d glasses. Riene wasn't upset that she didn't get a toy. She was actually proud that she got a "grown up meal."
We went to walmart, again. Twice, actually - the first time the kids got to pick out toys. The second time, I wouldn't even let them look at the toys because I knew they'd pester me until I let them get toys. I give in too easily sometimes.
On Saturday night, all my neighbors were blasting off mortars. It was a pretty sweet show for the 3rd, but it didn't compare to what I got to see on the 4th. A church was doing a display in one of their member's yards (which happens to be behind my place,) and there was an accidental fire in the display area. A few thousand dollar's worth of mortars went off in about a 10-minute span. I thought it was just a bunch of drunks being dumb, but it ended up on the news. That explained pretty quickly how they were able to blast them all off at once like I saw!
On the day of the 4th, I smoked a chicken and a mega pack of hotdogs. There's still a little bit of both left. That reminds me, I need to chop up more wood because grocery day is coming soon and I'll have another 20ish pounds of chicken to smoke so I can stick to my diet.
No word on what's up with Maria, but I was assured that regardless of whether or not she gives up her rights, she's going to be paying child support until both kids turn 18 or she dies, whichever comes first.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Bad News?
I got a message today from my lawyer that my ex had lost her job, and wants to give up her full parental rights so she doesn't have to worry about paying child support. This is pretty disconcerting to me for a few reasons. I'm sure that some divorcees would jump on this, but I don't like it.
My two kids are the best thing that's ever happened to me. Nothing in my life has made me happier than those two. Their moods affect my moods - when they're happy, I'm happy, when they're sad, I get sad. I just don't understand how their mother would not feel the same way, when she was the one who carried them through pregnancy and gave birth to them.
Another reason this is bad is because I need the child support. If she can't pay it or if she gives up her rights so she doesn't have to pay it, I'm going to be hard pressed to just pay the bills. Not having that money means I can't buy them toys in the way I like to, and I can't take them for ice cream, or trips to the lake and such. I really need that money to give them the childhood I wished I had.
To top that off, how am I supposed to break it to the kids? If she gives up her rights, she's definately not going to see them. What am I supposed to do then, pretend she died? You can't tell a 7 year old and a 4 year old that mommy just isn't ever coming back unless she's dead. It'll wreck their entire world view - not that what she's done already hasn't significantly injured them. Just thinking about how they'd react to it at this age makes me want to vomit. Why the @#$% do they have to go through this?
If you're reading this, I'd like to know what you're thinking. I don't want her to do this, but I don't know if I can stop it. This whole ordeal makes me sick.
My two kids are the best thing that's ever happened to me. Nothing in my life has made me happier than those two. Their moods affect my moods - when they're happy, I'm happy, when they're sad, I get sad. I just don't understand how their mother would not feel the same way, when she was the one who carried them through pregnancy and gave birth to them.
Another reason this is bad is because I need the child support. If she can't pay it or if she gives up her rights so she doesn't have to pay it, I'm going to be hard pressed to just pay the bills. Not having that money means I can't buy them toys in the way I like to, and I can't take them for ice cream, or trips to the lake and such. I really need that money to give them the childhood I wished I had.
To top that off, how am I supposed to break it to the kids? If she gives up her rights, she's definately not going to see them. What am I supposed to do then, pretend she died? You can't tell a 7 year old and a 4 year old that mommy just isn't ever coming back unless she's dead. It'll wreck their entire world view - not that what she's done already hasn't significantly injured them. Just thinking about how they'd react to it at this age makes me want to vomit. Why the @#$% do they have to go through this?
If you're reading this, I'd like to know what you're thinking. I don't want her to do this, but I don't know if I can stop it. This whole ordeal makes me sick.
Busy Days
Yesterday was pretty busy. I wasn't able to get on here to post due to that and isp problems. I'm guessing it was because of the storm - it was raining pretty hard here, and we had quite a bit of a lightning show.
Bear had an infected cut on his thumb, right next to the nail. It looked like it hurt pretty bad, but I got it cleaned up nicely. I've been washing it out with peroxide, then putting on neosporin and a bandaid. If it isn't cleared up tomorrow, I'll take him to his pediatrician.
I had to bribe him so he'd sit still and let me clean it. So, I ended up taking both kids to walmart and letting them pick out toys again. Bear got another spiderman toy, and Riene picked out a remote-controlled escalade. Bear got so excited when he saw her driving it around the kitchen floor that he wanted a turn too, but Riene didn't want to share. I had to remind her about why it's important to share. I told her about how Bear shares his candy and things with her, and how I share my computer with both of them. She came up with some examples of how people share with her on her own after that, then she was pretty willing to let Bear play with it.
I took the kids to see Toy Story 3. Bear was really good this time, he didn't run around at all during the movie. When I typically take him to a movie theater, he wants to run around and play rather than sit and watch the movie. I know he'll grow out of it more as he gets older, and when he's really interested in what's on the screen.
Today's been one of those days where the kids are moping and telling me how much they miss their mom. It makes me sad to see them like this. I really don't know what I'm supposed to do about that. I can't make her be a good mom. I can't make her be there for the kids. If she'd rather be out dating different guys and partying than being a parent, it's her choice. But I really don't understand how a woman can have kids, then just dump them and go off to find happiness. How can a mother be happy when she doesn't even see her young children? It doesn't seem possible to me.
What am I supposed to tell them to console them? I can't let her come back. I won't put myself or the kids through that again. I won't devote myself to a woman who cheats on me and attacks me. I'm too old for that. At the same time, I can't say, "Sorry guys, your mom's a skank who doesn't care about anyone but herself." How am I supposed to make them feel better? It's why I try to keep them busy, so they're not focusing on the fact that the woman who gave birth to them is so apparently unconcerned about them. I couldn't be apart from them like that; I'd chew my way through a concrete wall to get back to them if I had to. But that's just how I am.
The thing that I've noticed lately is there's a lot of really good women out there who want what she had - a guy who would not cheat, who wouldn't put her down, who does the housework, cooking, and shopping, and does a good job at those things, and who constantly did things to show her he loves her. I feel bad for these women. When a guy like me goes through what I did with a woman like my kid's mom, it's really hard for them to want to put out the effort again. When you keep kicking a dog, it's going to wince, expecting another kick every time they see feet. It's so frustrating.
I went to the gas station today so the kids could get candy, but they opted to dig through the ice cream bin rather than the candy aisle. I love the ice cream bin at the gas station. It's full of inexpensive goodies, and it's a veritable treasure trove to young kids. When I was a kid, I used to dig through and make sure that I'd tried every variety at least once - every time they got a new kind in, I had to have it.
There's an ice cream truck that comes around the neighborhood, but I don't usually let the kids get anything off of it. It's high priced, and there's just something about buying food off a truck that puts me off. It reminds me of the roach coach that used to come around when I was working at the golf course in Florida. That stuff always made me sick. I'm sure there's nothing wrong with the ice cream on the truck, but I'm definately not going to be a regular customer. Especially when a single orange creamsicle is 2.50, and I can drive to the store to pick up a 24 pack for 2 - 3 dollars. There's just no sense in buying it regularly. Sparsing it out makes it more fun when I do let them get something off it. (It's not a Good Humor truck driving around. If it was, I'd let them buy just about every time.)
I've got an appointment at the college tomorrow morning, so I have to get up early. I hope the kids don't give me any issues about going to bed tonight. The past couple nights, they've both been pretty bad about it. I put them in bed, they're quiet for about 10 minutes, then they're jumping on the beds and climbing the walls (literally) like Peter Parker post-spider bite. I explained the situation to them (my parenting style is about instruction, not discipline - discipline only carries over so far as you have a threat hanging over your head, while learning carries on permanently through self-motivation), so hopefully they'll be copacetic.
Bear had an infected cut on his thumb, right next to the nail. It looked like it hurt pretty bad, but I got it cleaned up nicely. I've been washing it out with peroxide, then putting on neosporin and a bandaid. If it isn't cleared up tomorrow, I'll take him to his pediatrician.
I had to bribe him so he'd sit still and let me clean it. So, I ended up taking both kids to walmart and letting them pick out toys again. Bear got another spiderman toy, and Riene picked out a remote-controlled escalade. Bear got so excited when he saw her driving it around the kitchen floor that he wanted a turn too, but Riene didn't want to share. I had to remind her about why it's important to share. I told her about how Bear shares his candy and things with her, and how I share my computer with both of them. She came up with some examples of how people share with her on her own after that, then she was pretty willing to let Bear play with it.
I took the kids to see Toy Story 3. Bear was really good this time, he didn't run around at all during the movie. When I typically take him to a movie theater, he wants to run around and play rather than sit and watch the movie. I know he'll grow out of it more as he gets older, and when he's really interested in what's on the screen.
Today's been one of those days where the kids are moping and telling me how much they miss their mom. It makes me sad to see them like this. I really don't know what I'm supposed to do about that. I can't make her be a good mom. I can't make her be there for the kids. If she'd rather be out dating different guys and partying than being a parent, it's her choice. But I really don't understand how a woman can have kids, then just dump them and go off to find happiness. How can a mother be happy when she doesn't even see her young children? It doesn't seem possible to me.
What am I supposed to tell them to console them? I can't let her come back. I won't put myself or the kids through that again. I won't devote myself to a woman who cheats on me and attacks me. I'm too old for that. At the same time, I can't say, "Sorry guys, your mom's a skank who doesn't care about anyone but herself." How am I supposed to make them feel better? It's why I try to keep them busy, so they're not focusing on the fact that the woman who gave birth to them is so apparently unconcerned about them. I couldn't be apart from them like that; I'd chew my way through a concrete wall to get back to them if I had to. But that's just how I am.
The thing that I've noticed lately is there's a lot of really good women out there who want what she had - a guy who would not cheat, who wouldn't put her down, who does the housework, cooking, and shopping, and does a good job at those things, and who constantly did things to show her he loves her. I feel bad for these women. When a guy like me goes through what I did with a woman like my kid's mom, it's really hard for them to want to put out the effort again. When you keep kicking a dog, it's going to wince, expecting another kick every time they see feet. It's so frustrating.
I went to the gas station today so the kids could get candy, but they opted to dig through the ice cream bin rather than the candy aisle. I love the ice cream bin at the gas station. It's full of inexpensive goodies, and it's a veritable treasure trove to young kids. When I was a kid, I used to dig through and make sure that I'd tried every variety at least once - every time they got a new kind in, I had to have it.
There's an ice cream truck that comes around the neighborhood, but I don't usually let the kids get anything off of it. It's high priced, and there's just something about buying food off a truck that puts me off. It reminds me of the roach coach that used to come around when I was working at the golf course in Florida. That stuff always made me sick. I'm sure there's nothing wrong with the ice cream on the truck, but I'm definately not going to be a regular customer. Especially when a single orange creamsicle is 2.50, and I can drive to the store to pick up a 24 pack for 2 - 3 dollars. There's just no sense in buying it regularly. Sparsing it out makes it more fun when I do let them get something off it. (It's not a Good Humor truck driving around. If it was, I'd let them buy just about every time.)
I've got an appointment at the college tomorrow morning, so I have to get up early. I hope the kids don't give me any issues about going to bed tonight. The past couple nights, they've both been pretty bad about it. I put them in bed, they're quiet for about 10 minutes, then they're jumping on the beds and climbing the walls (literally) like Peter Parker post-spider bite. I explained the situation to them (my parenting style is about instruction, not discipline - discipline only carries over so far as you have a threat hanging over your head, while learning carries on permanently through self-motivation), so hopefully they'll be copacetic.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Whew, what a hot day!
Today's been a real scorcher. I've been outside most of the day, mowing the lawn, playing with the kids in the pool, and weeding the garden. Oh yeah, and I laid on the deck for a bit to tan. It was so hot while I was tanning that I was just pouring sweat.
Riene and Bear think it's funny to smack my back and leave handprints when I'm sweating. So as I was laying there, those two kept pounding on my back. It's like a shiatsu, but a lot less fun.
We went to Food Lion and Dollar General today. I just needed to pick up milk and waffles, but the kids love browsing the dollar stores. (Duh, there's toys there.) And, they both ended up walking out with more toys. Bear got himself another spiderman, and Riene picked out a pretty cool water cannon. (I told Ree not to spray me, she did anyways. Go figure!)
I'm going to try something new for dinner. You know how when you make a meatloaf, the best thing about it are the sandwiches you have for leftovers? I'm going to skip the middleman and just make meatloaf burgers and cook them on the grill. Should be pretty tasty.
Oh yes, while I was at Food Lion I was scoping out the ice cream section. It's a bad idea to go to the store hungry, and even worse, to go buy groceries while you're hungry and on a diet. I found triple-chocolate Breyer's ice cream there with no sugar added. It's only 100 calories per 1/2 cup! That's even better than the frozen yogurt I'd picked up from walmart earlier in the month.
My kids keep getting on me about getting them a bunch of fireworks for the 4th. I'm not against buying fireworks, I'm just short on cash. I love to put on a nice show for them, but this year I'm not going to be able to afford more than $30 or so. Hopefully this year I find some nice fountains and not the cheap artillery rounds that look like they're fountains. With some of those package deals, you never know what you're really getting until you set it on fire.
Riene and Bear think it's funny to smack my back and leave handprints when I'm sweating. So as I was laying there, those two kept pounding on my back. It's like a shiatsu, but a lot less fun.
We went to Food Lion and Dollar General today. I just needed to pick up milk and waffles, but the kids love browsing the dollar stores. (Duh, there's toys there.) And, they both ended up walking out with more toys. Bear got himself another spiderman, and Riene picked out a pretty cool water cannon. (I told Ree not to spray me, she did anyways. Go figure!)
I'm going to try something new for dinner. You know how when you make a meatloaf, the best thing about it are the sandwiches you have for leftovers? I'm going to skip the middleman and just make meatloaf burgers and cook them on the grill. Should be pretty tasty.
Oh yes, while I was at Food Lion I was scoping out the ice cream section. It's a bad idea to go to the store hungry, and even worse, to go buy groceries while you're hungry and on a diet. I found triple-chocolate Breyer's ice cream there with no sugar added. It's only 100 calories per 1/2 cup! That's even better than the frozen yogurt I'd picked up from walmart earlier in the month.
My kids keep getting on me about getting them a bunch of fireworks for the 4th. I'm not against buying fireworks, I'm just short on cash. I love to put on a nice show for them, but this year I'm not going to be able to afford more than $30 or so. Hopefully this year I find some nice fountains and not the cheap artillery rounds that look like they're fountains. With some of those package deals, you never know what you're really getting until you set it on fire.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Fried Squash&Zucchini
I went digging through my garden today to see if I had anything else ripe. Low and behold, I saw a pair of massive yellow crooknecks and another pair of huge zuccini staring back at me. I've been getting 10-15 squash a week off these plants, which I either share with the neighbors or chop up and freeze.
Tonight, I decided I'd fry up some of these 4 for my kids, then boil the rest for myself. I usually do the spices a bit different every time in the flour mix, and tonight was no different. I used:
2 cups flour
2 tbsp onion powder
2 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp marjoram
2 tbsp celery seed
2 tbsp coriander
2 tbsp oregano
2 tbsp basil
1 tbsp thyme
I thick-slice the frying pieces, drop them into the flour, then let them dry. After they're dry, I drop them into an egg/milk bath, then re-coat with flour. This gives them a really nice, crunchy exterior and lots of room for the herbs to stick. I also only fry them enough for the batter to get crunchy - overcooking squash or eggplant in the frying pan leaves them all mushy.
On the topic of mushy, its been my experience that yellow squash goes goopy way, way faster than zucchini does, regardless of how you cook it. The zucchini will usually stay pretty crisp unless it's severely overcooked, and I like a bit of crunch to my veggies.
I fried up 20ish slices the size of my palm. In the time it took me to write this far, Bear has already eaten 11 of them. At least he's eating his veggies!
Another thing I did today was go and clean the ceiling fans in the house. That's one of the worst kinds of cleaning in my opinion - no matter how you go about it, you end up spreading the mess everywhere. Use a broom and the dust goes flying. Use a vacuum and the dust goes flying. Use a sponge and you end up with a nice brown dust gravy dripping onto your head and running down your arm. You can't win for trying on these things. If someone invents a self-cleaning ceiling fan, I'm totally buying it.
Tonight, I decided I'd fry up some of these 4 for my kids, then boil the rest for myself. I usually do the spices a bit different every time in the flour mix, and tonight was no different. I used:
2 cups flour
2 tbsp onion powder
2 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp marjoram
2 tbsp celery seed
2 tbsp coriander
2 tbsp oregano
2 tbsp basil
1 tbsp thyme
I thick-slice the frying pieces, drop them into the flour, then let them dry. After they're dry, I drop them into an egg/milk bath, then re-coat with flour. This gives them a really nice, crunchy exterior and lots of room for the herbs to stick. I also only fry them enough for the batter to get crunchy - overcooking squash or eggplant in the frying pan leaves them all mushy.
On the topic of mushy, its been my experience that yellow squash goes goopy way, way faster than zucchini does, regardless of how you cook it. The zucchini will usually stay pretty crisp unless it's severely overcooked, and I like a bit of crunch to my veggies.
I fried up 20ish slices the size of my palm. In the time it took me to write this far, Bear has already eaten 11 of them. At least he's eating his veggies!
Another thing I did today was go and clean the ceiling fans in the house. That's one of the worst kinds of cleaning in my opinion - no matter how you go about it, you end up spreading the mess everywhere. Use a broom and the dust goes flying. Use a vacuum and the dust goes flying. Use a sponge and you end up with a nice brown dust gravy dripping onto your head and running down your arm. You can't win for trying on these things. If someone invents a self-cleaning ceiling fan, I'm totally buying it.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Brass Monkey? At the zoo!
Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC has a lot of animal statues out now that they didn't have when I was a kid. They have lions, a tiger, an elephant, a tiny brontosaurus, and a very large orangutan (yes, I know the orangutan is an ape, not a monkey.) My kids love to climb on them, even when they're scorching hot from having the sun shine on them all day. I probably would've liked to climb on them myself when I was younger.
The zoo has changed a lot from when I was a kid. It seemed like back then it was more for education and all about the animals. These days, it has more of an amusement-park air to it. There's a playground, a carousel, a rock-climbing wall, train and pony rides, and other things that seem to be completely aimed at leeching the money out of parents during their visit. Most of the really cool things I remember are gone: the old birdhouse with the 15-minute rain storms (it had a penguin exhibit that didn't reek of fish; the new penguin house stinks worse than a fish market.) The sea lion exhibit, which had 16 or 17 of them and feeding/training times, has been demolished and filled in to make way for a "walk with the wallabies" exhibit. (The funniest thing about it is they compare how much kangaroo and deer are alike, and after watching Andrew Zimmern eat wallaby, it's all I could think about while I was watching the giant rats hop around.) They used to have a pair of polar bears that you could walk downstairs to watch swim in their below-ground tank - the polar bears have been replaced with grizzlies, and the door to watch them swim is blocked off. They also had two tribes of howler monkeys that my brothers and I could get started screaming at each other, who you could hear from any part of the zoo once they got started. I'm sure they make a lot more money with the new festival-atmosphere, but the glamour I used to view the zoo through as a kid certainly isn't there for me anymore - I always wanted to go and watch the animals, now my kids just want to go to the gift shop and ride the carousel.
After the zoo, we went and ate at the Happy China Buffet. All three of us love that restaurant, they have a huge selection that includes bong-bong chicken (one of my kid's favorites) and kim-chi (one of my favorites.) It's always nice to eat a meal that someone else made at a table I don't have to clean, even if I do have to pay more for it. The kids were really good there this time, too - Riene fixed her own plate, and Bear wasn't doing his normal bit where he runs up to other people's tables and asks them if he can try their food (I can't help but laugh when he asks people to try their steaks or for some of their shrimp in the fancier places we go to.)
When we got home, the kids dove right into the pool. They picked out new tubes a few days ago, and they were playing a game where they'd pull the head off of one of Bear's spiderman toys, then dive through their tubes to pick it up off the bottom. Amazingly, they've never lost a head playing that game - but they did manage to lose one of the bodies. The disembodied head now resides on my desk, in case the body decides to show back up.
I got them both to clean up their rooms today. I've learned that if I just say "go clean your room" and don't actually stand there and tell them what to do, they end up trashing the rooms even more. It wouldn't take me more than 10 minutes to do their rooms myself, but they've got to learn to do it right themselves, or they'll end up as complete slobs when they're adults. You can tell when you go to someone else's house if their parents actually stood over them and made them clean right when they were kids. (Tip: Want to know how well someone actually keeps their house clean? Look in the microwave, then in the fridge. If either one is dirty and the rest of the house looks fine, that means they only cleaned up because they were expecting guests.)
Time to finish dinner. The kids are eating nachos (again, it's the last of the bag of chips,) hotdogs, and beans. I'm going to have a chicken quarter and a can of diced tomatoes and chilis, and rutabaga. Yum!
The zoo has changed a lot from when I was a kid. It seemed like back then it was more for education and all about the animals. These days, it has more of an amusement-park air to it. There's a playground, a carousel, a rock-climbing wall, train and pony rides, and other things that seem to be completely aimed at leeching the money out of parents during their visit. Most of the really cool things I remember are gone: the old birdhouse with the 15-minute rain storms (it had a penguin exhibit that didn't reek of fish; the new penguin house stinks worse than a fish market.) The sea lion exhibit, which had 16 or 17 of them and feeding/training times, has been demolished and filled in to make way for a "walk with the wallabies" exhibit. (The funniest thing about it is they compare how much kangaroo and deer are alike, and after watching Andrew Zimmern eat wallaby, it's all I could think about while I was watching the giant rats hop around.) They used to have a pair of polar bears that you could walk downstairs to watch swim in their below-ground tank - the polar bears have been replaced with grizzlies, and the door to watch them swim is blocked off. They also had two tribes of howler monkeys that my brothers and I could get started screaming at each other, who you could hear from any part of the zoo once they got started. I'm sure they make a lot more money with the new festival-atmosphere, but the glamour I used to view the zoo through as a kid certainly isn't there for me anymore - I always wanted to go and watch the animals, now my kids just want to go to the gift shop and ride the carousel.
After the zoo, we went and ate at the Happy China Buffet. All three of us love that restaurant, they have a huge selection that includes bong-bong chicken (one of my kid's favorites) and kim-chi (one of my favorites.) It's always nice to eat a meal that someone else made at a table I don't have to clean, even if I do have to pay more for it. The kids were really good there this time, too - Riene fixed her own plate, and Bear wasn't doing his normal bit where he runs up to other people's tables and asks them if he can try their food (I can't help but laugh when he asks people to try their steaks or for some of their shrimp in the fancier places we go to.)
When we got home, the kids dove right into the pool. They picked out new tubes a few days ago, and they were playing a game where they'd pull the head off of one of Bear's spiderman toys, then dive through their tubes to pick it up off the bottom. Amazingly, they've never lost a head playing that game - but they did manage to lose one of the bodies. The disembodied head now resides on my desk, in case the body decides to show back up.
I got them both to clean up their rooms today. I've learned that if I just say "go clean your room" and don't actually stand there and tell them what to do, they end up trashing the rooms even more. It wouldn't take me more than 10 minutes to do their rooms myself, but they've got to learn to do it right themselves, or they'll end up as complete slobs when they're adults. You can tell when you go to someone else's house if their parents actually stood over them and made them clean right when they were kids. (Tip: Want to know how well someone actually keeps their house clean? Look in the microwave, then in the fridge. If either one is dirty and the rest of the house looks fine, that means they only cleaned up because they were expecting guests.)
Time to finish dinner. The kids are eating nachos (again, it's the last of the bag of chips,) hotdogs, and beans. I'm going to have a chicken quarter and a can of diced tomatoes and chilis, and rutabaga. Yum!
Argh, why won't you sleep in your own room?
Both of my kids now have a serious problem with not sleeping in their own rooms. Even if I get them to fall asleep in there, I wake up in the middle of the night to both of them kicking me out of my own bed. What's the deal with that? As far as I can remember, I didn't try to climb into my parent's bed at night to sleep. I've always liked my own bed. (I like it so much, in fact, that if I'm within 45 minutes driving time from my house, I will not sleep anywhere else.)
Ree and Bear have been giving me trouble going to bed lately too, but I think that's due to my being a bit more lenient on bedtime in the summer. When school's in, it's a straight 8:30pm bedtime across the board - everything in the house gets turned off then and it's "go to sleep or you'll be in trouble!" In the summertime, I'll let them stay up until 10pm or so, but lately they've been pushing it so they're still awake well past midnight, despite the fact that the tvs and lights are all off in the house.
Seriously, nothing works to make them sleep. I've tried waking them up earlier. I had them run around in circles all day (literally), didn't work. I've threatened, I've bribed, I've begged, I've sat there and chanted "go...to...sleep...go...to...sleep..." Nothing works. Usually, about the time I give up trying to get them to sleep and go back to doing whatever else I was doing, they just pass out on their own.
Riene's not so bad about this, because she likes to sleep in all day. But Bear will get up at 6am, start jumping on the bed and shout, "GET UP DAD! I WANT BUZZ LIGHTYEAR CEREAL!" (Feel free to substitute "ice cream," "pizza," "hot dogs," "chips," and "cookies" for "buzz lightyear cereal," which I might add, is really Frosted Flakes.) If I don't immediately leap from the bed and dash into the kitchen to get him food, he starts yanking on my arm. If that doesn't make me get up, he starts slapping me in the face. That boy hits hard, too. (He literally climbs the walls in the house and swings from my pullup bar like a monkey.) I had to explain to him that knocking someone out isn't a very good way to wake them up, just pat their arm or something.
Enough blogging for the moment, time to finish getting these two ready for the zoo.
Ree and Bear have been giving me trouble going to bed lately too, but I think that's due to my being a bit more lenient on bedtime in the summer. When school's in, it's a straight 8:30pm bedtime across the board - everything in the house gets turned off then and it's "go to sleep or you'll be in trouble!" In the summertime, I'll let them stay up until 10pm or so, but lately they've been pushing it so they're still awake well past midnight, despite the fact that the tvs and lights are all off in the house.
Seriously, nothing works to make them sleep. I've tried waking them up earlier. I had them run around in circles all day (literally), didn't work. I've threatened, I've bribed, I've begged, I've sat there and chanted "go...to...sleep...go...to...sleep..." Nothing works. Usually, about the time I give up trying to get them to sleep and go back to doing whatever else I was doing, they just pass out on their own.
Riene's not so bad about this, because she likes to sleep in all day. But Bear will get up at 6am, start jumping on the bed and shout, "GET UP DAD! I WANT BUZZ LIGHTYEAR CEREAL!" (Feel free to substitute "ice cream," "pizza," "hot dogs," "chips," and "cookies" for "buzz lightyear cereal," which I might add, is really Frosted Flakes.) If I don't immediately leap from the bed and dash into the kitchen to get him food, he starts yanking on my arm. If that doesn't make me get up, he starts slapping me in the face. That boy hits hard, too. (He literally climbs the walls in the house and swings from my pullup bar like a monkey.) I had to explain to him that knocking someone out isn't a very good way to wake them up, just pat their arm or something.
Enough blogging for the moment, time to finish getting these two ready for the zoo.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Lunchtime!
Today's been fairly uneventful. I refilled and chlorinated the pool, cleaned the bathroom, and mopped the kitchen while the kids were playing on my computer. Oh yes, I did my exercises, too.
My abs, especially the lower section and my obliques, were so sore today! I think it's because of how many pushups and pullups I did yesterday. Tensing your abs while you do those is pretty intense - I'm glad I decided to coordinate isometrics and calisthenics.
Riene was playing an Elmo reading game on Nick Jr. today. Elmo kept talking about how he missed his mommy because she was at work. Riene commented, "I know mommy isn't going to see us today, that's why we're going to Florida." While it's true that Maria isn't interested in seeing the kids, that's not why they're going to Florida. They're going there to spend some time with their great-grandmother, something myself and my siblings all did when we were there age.
Riene didn't get to spend the summer there last year because Bear wasn't old enough to go, and it wasn't fair in my opinion to just send her and not him. They have a pretty close sibling bond that I don't want fractured because one of them went off on vacation without the other. From my own experience, it's really important for a parent to foster family ties between siblings and the rest of the family. Otherwise, you end up with kids who completely disregard their own family when they become adults, and can't handle having a family of their own. That's something I hope I never see with my kids.
It would be very nice if their mother would take the time to visit them. I can understand (from a biological standpoint) why a father would be able to toss aside all emotional bonds with his kids and go off to party and whatever, but it seems unfathomable to me that a mother would do that. I obviously chose my mate poorly in terms of maternal instinct and loyalty, but at least her genetics were solid. Both kids are smart and resilient.
Then again, a lot of that comes from upbringing. They take their vitamins - the Marvel Superheroes Gummies (although I was a Flintstones kid), and they drink a lot of chocolate milk. The Nestle reduced sugar chocolate milk mix is great, it has tons of vitamins in it too. It'd be better if they weren't such picky eaters, but what can you do on that? I'm not going to brow-beat my kids into eating their brussel sprouts when I'd rather have them all to myself!
They're also pretty smart from reading. Riene reads exceptionally well, and Bear is at the point where he recognizes quite a lot of words - I would say well over 300, but I may be exaggerating a bit. These two are also learning math and numbers from the toy section at walmart. I give them a price limit, then they look for the price tag, and I make them comparison shop. I figure it'll help them work with a budget as they get older, something that I had to learn on my own.
My abs, especially the lower section and my obliques, were so sore today! I think it's because of how many pushups and pullups I did yesterday. Tensing your abs while you do those is pretty intense - I'm glad I decided to coordinate isometrics and calisthenics.
Riene was playing an Elmo reading game on Nick Jr. today. Elmo kept talking about how he missed his mommy because she was at work. Riene commented, "I know mommy isn't going to see us today, that's why we're going to Florida." While it's true that Maria isn't interested in seeing the kids, that's not why they're going to Florida. They're going there to spend some time with their great-grandmother, something myself and my siblings all did when we were there age.
Riene didn't get to spend the summer there last year because Bear wasn't old enough to go, and it wasn't fair in my opinion to just send her and not him. They have a pretty close sibling bond that I don't want fractured because one of them went off on vacation without the other. From my own experience, it's really important for a parent to foster family ties between siblings and the rest of the family. Otherwise, you end up with kids who completely disregard their own family when they become adults, and can't handle having a family of their own. That's something I hope I never see with my kids.
It would be very nice if their mother would take the time to visit them. I can understand (from a biological standpoint) why a father would be able to toss aside all emotional bonds with his kids and go off to party and whatever, but it seems unfathomable to me that a mother would do that. I obviously chose my mate poorly in terms of maternal instinct and loyalty, but at least her genetics were solid. Both kids are smart and resilient.
Then again, a lot of that comes from upbringing. They take their vitamins - the Marvel Superheroes Gummies (although I was a Flintstones kid), and they drink a lot of chocolate milk. The Nestle reduced sugar chocolate milk mix is great, it has tons of vitamins in it too. It'd be better if they weren't such picky eaters, but what can you do on that? I'm not going to brow-beat my kids into eating their brussel sprouts when I'd rather have them all to myself!
They're also pretty smart from reading. Riene reads exceptionally well, and Bear is at the point where he recognizes quite a lot of words - I would say well over 300, but I may be exaggerating a bit. These two are also learning math and numbers from the toy section at walmart. I give them a price limit, then they look for the price tag, and I make them comparison shop. I figure it'll help them work with a budget as they get older, something that I had to learn on my own.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Another Wal-Mart Trip
Ahh, it's so nice to be home. I just spent two hours in the toy aisles of walmart letting my kids look for things. Bear decided on the "Spider-Sense Spiderman." It's pretty cool, it has a button that makes his eyes and the spider on his chest light up. I give it two days before it's in the pool and broken. He had an easy time finding his toy, took him under 3 minutes.
Riene, on the other hand, spent the better part of two hours trying to find a toy. She always aims for the big boxes, chanting, "How about this?"
"No, it's too expensive. You're not spending more than your brother this time."
"This one?"
"No, you're not spending more than your brother this time."
And on and on it went...
I ended up telling her no, made her leave the toy section, and picked out a disposable camera for her. As we were walking away from the toy section, she started to pout and cry, so I said, "I know what the problem is - You're just like me, you're too picky and you want too much."
She was really happy with the camera, though. Ree loves taking pictures. I should probably get her a digital camera for christmas, but damn, money's going to be tight until I finish school.
My feet hurt now. I'm going to watch "Merlin" on Syfy.
Riene, on the other hand, spent the better part of two hours trying to find a toy. She always aims for the big boxes, chanting, "How about this?"
"No, it's too expensive. You're not spending more than your brother this time."
"This one?"
"No, you're not spending more than your brother this time."
And on and on it went...
I ended up telling her no, made her leave the toy section, and picked out a disposable camera for her. As we were walking away from the toy section, she started to pout and cry, so I said, "I know what the problem is - You're just like me, you're too picky and you want too much."
She was really happy with the camera, though. Ree loves taking pictures. I should probably get her a digital camera for christmas, but damn, money's going to be tight until I finish school.
My feet hurt now. I'm going to watch "Merlin" on Syfy.
Spongebob!
My kids do a lot to entertain themselves, but it's way different from when I was a kid. I grew up in the woods with practically no other kids around. My mom would make us stay outside the majority of the time - if we kept coming in and out of the house, we'd end up in the garden pulling weeds or picking beans. It sucked then, although I enjoy doing both now in my own garden.
My kids love to watch tv, probably way more than I did. I didn't have cable, but they do. Spongebob (surprise!) is one of their favorite shows. They're actually watching it right now. It's probably one of the dumbest shows I've ever seen, but what the heck, they seem to enjoy it, and they don't trash the house when it's on.
They also love to play on my computer. Bear likes to watch Spiderman and Mario videos on Youtube. Riene likes to play on PBS Kids, Starfall, and Nick Jr. At least hers are educational. With Bear, I have to censor practically every video. You'd be surprised at how many Super Mario Bros. videos on Youtube are filled with obscene commentary by the poster. Then again, it's the internet, so what else should I expect?
I was going to buy them a Wii after my tax rebate arrived, but low and behold, I ended up spending all I had on a lawyer. Top that off with the fact that Maria took the living room tv, the dvd/vcr combo, the surround sound, my grill, and broke mine and my kid's computers, I've had a lot to replace. Money's in short supply at the present, but it's ok.
Today was going to be a zoo day (they love Riverbanks.) But, their friend Bubba was here, so today ended up being a stay-at-home-and-play day. They went through 3 changes of clothes playing in the pool. It's kind of annoying that they won't put on their bathing suits to get in the pool. They just dive in wearing whatever, sometimes including shoes. Good thing I'm great at doing laundry :P
My kids love to watch tv, probably way more than I did. I didn't have cable, but they do. Spongebob (surprise!) is one of their favorite shows. They're actually watching it right now. It's probably one of the dumbest shows I've ever seen, but what the heck, they seem to enjoy it, and they don't trash the house when it's on.
They also love to play on my computer. Bear likes to watch Spiderman and Mario videos on Youtube. Riene likes to play on PBS Kids, Starfall, and Nick Jr. At least hers are educational. With Bear, I have to censor practically every video. You'd be surprised at how many Super Mario Bros. videos on Youtube are filled with obscene commentary by the poster. Then again, it's the internet, so what else should I expect?
I was going to buy them a Wii after my tax rebate arrived, but low and behold, I ended up spending all I had on a lawyer. Top that off with the fact that Maria took the living room tv, the dvd/vcr combo, the surround sound, my grill, and broke mine and my kid's computers, I've had a lot to replace. Money's in short supply at the present, but it's ok.
Today was going to be a zoo day (they love Riverbanks.) But, their friend Bubba was here, so today ended up being a stay-at-home-and-play day. They went through 3 changes of clothes playing in the pool. It's kind of annoying that they won't put on their bathing suits to get in the pool. They just dive in wearing whatever, sometimes including shoes. Good thing I'm great at doing laundry :P
Like I said, I'm on a diet...
It's kind of a pain being on a diet because I really enjoy food. In fact, one of my favorite shows is about food - "Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern." Top that off with how picky my kids are, and I end up preparing two meals every sitting.
I don't mind eating the same thing constantly, so I took a shortcut and smoked 20lbs of chicken. It gets tiring eating it, but I've got a lot of different sauces and salsas. Plus, with the light Miracle Whip, I can make chicken salad and eat it without borking my taste buds or my fat-loss plan.
You won't find a scale in my house; I go by body-fat percentage. When I started, I was at 23%, and I'm trying to get to 12%. When I hit 12%, I may go lower, I may not. It depends. Right now I'm at about 15%, which is pretty fair. I want to see how low I can get it though, so I'm going to keep aiming at dropping a percent or two a month. Any faster than that, and I lose muscle and not fat.
I really wing it on my diet plan, but the thing I watch out for is carbs. If I go over 1800 calories a day on protein, it's not an issue - but when I go over on carbs, it's a big deal for me. It's just how my body works. Another reason I have to wing it is I tend to sleep-eat; I try to keep track of what I ate then and adjust for it the next day.
You can't just diet and expect to lose fat, though. You've got to exercise too, and that's the part that gets me. My back is messed up (blown discs, pinched nerves, compression fractured my L1 and L2 in February), and so is my right shoulder. So, I have to be a bit creative and not go overboard. I break up my routine: one day I'll do heavy isometrics (hard qigong), next day I'll do 300-500 squats, then 300-500 pushups and pullups the day after, then I do a depletion workout on my arms for the final day. Every day, I do light but extended cardio, shadowbox with weighted gloves, and iron palm training, plus a warmup routine designed to strengthen my rotator cuffs and spinal erectors.
You may be thinking, "Hey, he didn't say anything about abs in there!" Well, there's a simple reason for that - if you do isometrics on your abs while you're doing all the other stuff, you get a better workout (and safer if you have a bad back) than you do if you do 1k crunches or leg lifts. The trick is to just hold your abs as tight as you can while you're exercising. Qigong helps with that.
I don't mind eating the same thing constantly, so I took a shortcut and smoked 20lbs of chicken. It gets tiring eating it, but I've got a lot of different sauces and salsas. Plus, with the light Miracle Whip, I can make chicken salad and eat it without borking my taste buds or my fat-loss plan.
You won't find a scale in my house; I go by body-fat percentage. When I started, I was at 23%, and I'm trying to get to 12%. When I hit 12%, I may go lower, I may not. It depends. Right now I'm at about 15%, which is pretty fair. I want to see how low I can get it though, so I'm going to keep aiming at dropping a percent or two a month. Any faster than that, and I lose muscle and not fat.
I really wing it on my diet plan, but the thing I watch out for is carbs. If I go over 1800 calories a day on protein, it's not an issue - but when I go over on carbs, it's a big deal for me. It's just how my body works. Another reason I have to wing it is I tend to sleep-eat; I try to keep track of what I ate then and adjust for it the next day.
You can't just diet and expect to lose fat, though. You've got to exercise too, and that's the part that gets me. My back is messed up (blown discs, pinched nerves, compression fractured my L1 and L2 in February), and so is my right shoulder. So, I have to be a bit creative and not go overboard. I break up my routine: one day I'll do heavy isometrics (hard qigong), next day I'll do 300-500 squats, then 300-500 pushups and pullups the day after, then I do a depletion workout on my arms for the final day. Every day, I do light but extended cardio, shadowbox with weighted gloves, and iron palm training, plus a warmup routine designed to strengthen my rotator cuffs and spinal erectors.
You may be thinking, "Hey, he didn't say anything about abs in there!" Well, there's a simple reason for that - if you do isometrics on your abs while you're doing all the other stuff, you get a better workout (and safer if you have a bad back) than you do if you do 1k crunches or leg lifts. The trick is to just hold your abs as tight as you can while you're exercising. Qigong helps with that.
Turkey Nachos for lunch?!?
My kids love nachos. What I normally do is throw some corn chips (tostitos or w/e) on a plate, toss on shredded cheese, and nuke it for 45 seconds. Then I dump on sour cream, and they're pretty happy. But, that's not exactly healthy, so I'm trying to add in some other stuff. Those two are so picky, who knows if they'll eat it.
My recipe:
Taco-flavored ground turkey from walmart: 1.20 for a pound.
walmart-brand fat free refried beans: .89 for a can
tub of sour cream: .98
shredded extra-sharp cheddar: 1.89 for a bag
bag of walmart brand dorito knockoffs: 1.88 for a bag
Brown the turkey (it's pretty good, I tasted it!) then chop fine and dump into a microwave safe bowl. Add in the beans and a bit of water, cover with plastic wrap (because scrubbing the beans out of the microwave really sucks), nuke for 2 minutes. Spread chips on a plate, then sprinkle cheese across. Nuke for 45 seconds. Dollop on the beans/meat mixture (which you should've stirred), then the sour cream. It's pretty tasty, but I won't be eating it: I'm on a diet!
My recipe:
Taco-flavored ground turkey from walmart: 1.20 for a pound.
walmart-brand fat free refried beans: .89 for a can
tub of sour cream: .98
shredded extra-sharp cheddar: 1.89 for a bag
bag of walmart brand dorito knockoffs: 1.88 for a bag
Brown the turkey (it's pretty good, I tasted it!) then chop fine and dump into a microwave safe bowl. Add in the beans and a bit of water, cover with plastic wrap (because scrubbing the beans out of the microwave really sucks), nuke for 2 minutes. Spread chips on a plate, then sprinkle cheese across. Nuke for 45 seconds. Dollop on the beans/meat mixture (which you should've stirred), then the sour cream. It's pretty tasty, but I won't be eating it: I'm on a diet!
A Bit of Background
I'm Erik McBride, now single father of two children: My 7 year old daughter, Riene (Ree), and my 4 year old son, Erik (Bear). This blog is about our daily lives, what the kids say and do, and my random thoughts or maybe what I made for dinner. It's also here to give my soon-to-be-ex-wife a bit of insight into the daily lives of the kids she gave birth to, whom she now refuses to see.
The basic story is, Maria (the wife) was seeing other guys. I got solid evidence of it on February 5, 2010 and told her to leave. She attacked me, tried to stab me, and got arrested. After she got out of jail she told her boyfriend(s) and their families that I beat her up, raped her, then tricked the deputies into arresting her. Despite her hitting me, clawing me, throwing things at me, and rampaging through the house like Godzilla in Tokyo, I didn't hit her, or throw things back at her. I just called 911.
Since then, she's only seen the kids twice: Once on Valentine's Day, and once on May 1. She's stood the kids up on every other visitation since then. It's pretty sad; I hate to see my kids suffer like this. I keep them busy - take them to the zoo, the park, and what not. It's tough to explain to kids why their mom only saw them twice and insisted on letting them know how much happier she is with Chuck than she was with them.
Keep checking back, more to come.
The basic story is, Maria (the wife) was seeing other guys. I got solid evidence of it on February 5, 2010 and told her to leave. She attacked me, tried to stab me, and got arrested. After she got out of jail she told her boyfriend(s) and their families that I beat her up, raped her, then tricked the deputies into arresting her. Despite her hitting me, clawing me, throwing things at me, and rampaging through the house like Godzilla in Tokyo, I didn't hit her, or throw things back at her. I just called 911.
Since then, she's only seen the kids twice: Once on Valentine's Day, and once on May 1. She's stood the kids up on every other visitation since then. It's pretty sad; I hate to see my kids suffer like this. I keep them busy - take them to the zoo, the park, and what not. It's tough to explain to kids why their mom only saw them twice and insisted on letting them know how much happier she is with Chuck than she was with them.
Keep checking back, more to come.
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