What we did this summer

Back in May my wife sent me an email listing the things she wanted us to do over the summer. Here's how that turned out:

This summer I want to...  

take Grace to Great America - done. Although I managed to avoid this one when $ fell short, Lisa took her to Great America with a friend from her old school. I believe the highlight for them was performing onstage with Tweety and the Warner Bros. characters.

...take the girls to the zoo...maybe twice ..done. I went at least once (twice, I think) and Lisa took them at least one other time.

.take the girls to the children's museum, at least four times .Not sure; I went once or twice, Lisa took them at least once.

..take the girls to IKEA, get breakfast and buy something ..nope. forgot all about it. We should do this!

.take the girls to a water park WITH YOU ..Great America premiered a new water park this year, so that was accomplished (minus the 'with you' part)

.go to Friday night flicks down on the east side again ..nope. if it even took place this year, I never heard about it.

.go to state fair ..We skipped it this year, partly for $ concerns, partly because it conflicted with our schedule. That sucks - I regret not going. It's a good time.

.childrens fest (maybe) ..I believe this is at Summerfest, which we skipped because there were no acts that sparked our interest in going.

.be in the fourth of July parade with kids with a kick ass decorated stroller or wagon...we didn't march in the parade this year, but watched a pair. I had an abscessed tooth that flared up and was pulled the next day.

 ...watch fire works downtown, AND somewhere else ..not sure about the somewhere else part, but the downtown fireworks were a go - and YaYa threw one of the nastiest hissy fits EVER in the crowd.

.visit myg'grandpa or invite him over No, to our regret. We did attempt to call him (no answer) and his deteroriating medical condition precludes most outside activity.

go to lots of parks not as much as last year, but I'd give it a 'yes'.

grill outside a lot     see 'parks' comment

start working out again uh .. . no comment

take walks around the neighborhood when the sun is setting with you and the kids  we did one or two walks, neither in the evening.

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Always interesting to compare expectations with results. It was a good summer; nothing mindblowing, but relaxing and pretty fun. I'd like to make a list like this again next May.

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Where've I been? October 30th 2005

Hey, I know I‘m not Amelia Earheart, but I’ve still heard a few folks asking where I disappeared to this summer.

Well, you might have noticed that despite revealing everything from my fear of mice to the most embarrassing moments of fatherhood, I never said more than a few words about work.

Why?

For one thing I believe in the old adage that says you can’t shit where you eat and expect dinner to taste great. I had no desire to lose my job over something I wrote as a hobby on AOL.

For another, I knew my stories would be skewed and give the wrong impression of the business. I worked 3rd shift for years- my clientele was neither well behaved nor typical for my place of employment.

And , probably most importantly, I worked there 40 hours a week. I didn’t want to spend my free time rehashing what happened on the time clock.

And then, in July, the boss quit.

To give you some perspective, I’d been in management for years but had long given up on advancing in our small, nepotistic company. When she quit it was on par with a drowning man seeing the sun break through the water above him; chances are you still weren’t going to make it, but at least there’s hope.

But wouldn’t you know it, I got the promotion.

It wasn’t easy. I had what amounted to a three month audition before the advancement was even publicly announced, and if that wasn’t enough, office politics have clouded the hierarchy of the post-boss era. Still, I’ve moved up in the world.

That’s a pretty good thing. I’m making more money, I dress pretty nifty, and I have more authority.

And stress. I have a lot more stress.

Part of the tension is just your normal adjustment to change. I have a work schedule 180 degrees from what it was, and I’m just now learning how to be a husband that’s home to hear the baby cry at 2 am.

Add to that the standard duties of the job, the natural hazing that comes with being a rookie, and a business that has yet to recover fully from the effects of 9/11 . . . well, pass the Tums please.

Ah, I’m just a whiner. I’m happy for the change.

But I do need an outlet for my nervous energy, something I enjoy and takes my mind off of things. For that reason, whenever I get a chance, I’m going to try and update Slapinions.

No promises, you understand. Sometimes when I have free time the last thing I want to do is sit down in front of a monitor and type, but it does feel good when I get around to it.

Dang good.

So here’s hoping we see a whole lot more of each other in the future.

 

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