I’m feeling good about things. How’s that for a new, refreshing way to start a blog post? Why you might ask? I am on a diet. We are minimizing our material purchases. I work at least 14 hours a day. My back is jacked up – I mean bad jacked up. No, those would seem to be reasons that make me unhappy. Every single one of them does, in fact, make me unhappy.

But, I am trying to look at those very same situations in a new light. I’m losing weight and feel much better about myself. Ok, maybe just a little better – but better is better. I like most of the materials that I currently own so don’t desire for much more. I like the work I do, and feel like I make a difference in a great many arenas. My doctor has just about got my back pain to a controllable level.

Blah blah, right? You might say that I just said the same things in a positive light. Big deal. Well, to me it is!! This is a new thing for me. At least a very long lost discipline. Whatever, I have it back to some extent and the days seem brighter, and filled with hope. I’ll take it!

I hear the question, “Want to grab some coffee from the cafe?” less often. It seems to have been replaced with questions like, “You saved that ziploc bag from lunch that you used for your crackers, right?” … Man how I miss breves…

Heidi is taking the same approach to things as well, and things are feeling a lot better as a whole for this family. Even in light of some events I won’t mention that might otherwise depress us quite a bit. Shut up, I said I won’t mention — stop asking. ;)

We’re both hoping our compasses are pointing in a positive direction and that it might have a positive effect on a certain little boy who looks to us for guidance in this scary world…

OH! Here’s a postscript to contrast this entire post… I over heard Heidi tell Rhys to only take three of the chocolate treats she had made (Buckeyes). I walked out and found the plate in front of Rhys with four chocolate blemishes on it.

That indicated to me that he had eaten four. I had also just heard him say that he was going to go ahead and decide to eat four. That’s his thing lately. Testing authority. Mom quickly shut him down and said “NO! I said three!!” That was before I walked out there..

Anyway, I gave Rhys the “WTF, DUDE!!” look.

He gave me the “OMG SHIT, I’M BUSTED” look and said, “s-o-r-r-y” in a whispered tone…

Then I did the ‘dad thing’ where you shut everything off and tell him to clean up, then I stare into his soul and reduce the poor kid to tears.

Then I hear Heidi say, “OMG Wait!! He only ate three!!” Turns out she had one earlier. The fourth smudge was hers…

I had to apologize and make up with my son and get him to forgive me… He eventually did. I still feel like total shit though. :(

Anyway, good night world. See you tomorrow!

Today I left the house while my son was crying because he missed me. Nothing really stops you in your tracks like that. I had to step back and assess what’s going on in my life. I’m very busy with my moonlighting (more on that in another post) these days and since there are only 24 hours in the day, something has to give. Lately it’s been sleep and family time.

So, I made Wednesdays the official day of play. My son nodded that this was a good thing but the tears were still there. I’m not one to give him whatever he wants, but I think one devoted day amongst the other days, where he gets maybe an hour of daddy time lately, maybe is not too much to give. We’ve also been doing this thing where we go to the park on Saturday mornings. He gets to ride his bike, Heidi gets to walk, and I get to study. It’s getting a bit cold here lately, so not sure how much longer this will last.

That’s all for now. I just wanted to vent a little about how much I miss my family. I work so much because I love them so much, but it’s a bit of a catch 22.

Wow, I remember when I used to actually blog. Before the onslaught of the Everyman’s blog on MySpace and Facebook. Not that I was any good at it, but I was better about the frequency of useless crap I’d post up here. YEP! You guessed it: ANOTHER OMG-I-Haven’t-Blogged-In-Forever post.

So, there you have it. I haven’t blogged in forever, blah blah blah blah I want to post more often, blah blah blah, <insert joke about how few readers I have> yadda yadda yadda. The probable reality is that I will likely not update for another huge stretch of time, but I really do want to try!!

So, what’s been going on in our lives for those of you who don’t know? Rhys is five freakin years old now! Insane! It seems like only yesterday that we were going through all the bullshit in the NICU, and then all the stupid ass therapy sessions. I say that because it was a pain, not because they aren’t professionals or anything. Those folks really were a godsend. But, again, so long ago… Looking at him now you’d not know he had all those issues. You clearly see all of my crazy on him, peppered with mom’s crazy too, but you’d dismiss it as normal and maybe mumble something about “poor kid”.

I still have a wonderful job at Cogswells Cogs ;) and am loving almost every minute of it. :) I’ve recently taken to ramping up my side businesses in the form of a second job since this economy is in the toilet. Boy, am I glad Obama passed that stimulus package. Can you imagine how bad it would be if he hadn’t? Whew. Thanks Mr. Obama, you rock like Chopin on tranqs.

And on that note, I’m gonna get back to work, and hopefully blog just a bit more often. :) Hope all is well out there in Happyland!

Ok, I think Rhys needs to get out of the Apartment… He has a new semi-imaginary friend. His name is Pothead…

Pothead... Get it? His head is a pot...

So, where have I been? Just doin the same ol same ol. Work has been a bit busy. It has been necessary to work at the call centers this week and last, and that burns me out pretty quick. I like my nice office! Today I get a repreive from the call center smells, sounds, and situations and get to work from my office so this is a nice change of pace.

I’m still plugging away at my studies every chance I get. Trying to breathe new life into my home schedule so I can get many of my side projects goin proper again. One site I’m working on right now was so near completion, and in the same spirit of the apprentice painter always putting that “last stroke” on the painting, I’ve had to tear it completely down and redesign it! Ahhh learning… :-D

Rhys’ big thing lately is fear. He’s scared of everything.  Like EVERYTHING: bugs, shadows, birds, shadows of bugs, being alone, his basketball hoop, the dolphin mobile in his room. You name it, and this kid will jump 20 feet in the blink of an eye! I guess it’s a phase. We are working with him, of course, but it’s slow goin.

He has found his new favorite game. His first real computer game that he fully understands! As a gamer dad, I’m so proud. We’ve been playing Peggle. It’s a PopCap game. If you like puzzle games, I’d recommend checking it out. It’s a good one.

Both Heidi and I have readjusted our outlook on things. Kinda stepped back to look at what is truly important in our lives, where we want to be, etc… So, we’ve redoubled our efforts to get back on track, as we both feel like we may have lost our way a bit. Things are goin good in that area, and we feel like we’ve got some good direction for once in a long time.