Views from my office windows

I took these one day while working. This is the type of stuff I get to see everyday. Notice how there really aren't any other people in the pictures? Well, that is how things are sometimes, no one else in the picture. I'm getting good at this alone thing.

weekend fun

This was one of those weekends where I had the kids and we did family stuff.
I picked them up on Friday and then we went up to my mom's because that is where the "parking lot" and I showed the kids my company car. C'mon, a black trailblazer to a 10yo is pretty cool.
After stopping by mom's, we headed across the border to one of the biggest flea markets. $20 a kid, with the endless amount of stuff that was there equals 2 webkinz, dog tags, and trading cards not to mention chili dogs, nachos, lemonade and Italian sausage.
We checked out the local park that is just across the street, the kids ran around like crazy (even dad had some fun) and then just did stuff that I miss doing with them; answering the crazy questions, telling them to stop the fighting, getting the hugs.
It was a good weekend

Part time dad

It sucks to be a part time dad. I don't get to be there when the things are going good or when the things are going bad. Case in point, my son got in trouble today at day care and I got to be "mean dad" over the phone. I can hear in his voice that he really isn't paying attention to me because I can hear the new dog, mom and bf in the background.
That's the part that sucks. Not being there and having words fall on pre-occupied ears. Or when talking to my daughter, having bf's daughter in the background and thus things I say go unheard. Even the "I love you" get a "What?"
eh, C'est la vie.

Yes, I'm still here

Okay, so I haven't written much and that is because I've been busy. You see, since my events, I've been staying with my mom. Yes, I could be the butt of many jokes and I have, but I think it was something that needed to be done. Having something secure like that, for both of us, was needed due to the blows that were dealt.
Now, though, things have changed.
One thing that I needed to do was wait for the right place to become available. "Right place? You mean with walls and stuff? " Kind of. I needed to make sure that the kids had their own rooms so that even though I don't have them that much, they know that when they are with dad, they are home. I also needed a place in my budget because watching part of your paycheck go away each and every time, though it is for the kids, is tough. So it took some time but I'm back in single guy mode.
Not only that, but I've been painting because, well, it is an apartment, and there are frogs in the bathroom (the ex's favorite), I've been working like crazy to keep those paychecks coming, and I haven't had a keyboard on this computer. Do you understand how hard it is to type when you have to go letter by letter for a guy that took not one, but two years of typing in H.S. and wrote countless papers in college? It is not easy.
Also, with all this time to myself to think, I haven't been in the best moods. It is like I finally get to grieve about the losses that I've had, to reflect on what I have lost and to look forward to what might happen. I've realized that I am lonely. Sure I have friends and family but I don't have anyone I can just talk to and that is tough. I can talk to certain people about certain things but noboy to talk about everything to. I know that will change but I'm impatient.
So, now that I have a keyboard, I will post more.
Funky Cold Medina

What a weekend

Okay, so I should have posted this Monday, or even Sunday, but I didn't want to.  So...

This weekend the kids and I went up to my friends campground for a little 4th party and it was fun.  I was lucky because the week before I was invited up there to see what it was like before the kids got there.  It is a whole different world from what I was used to or expecting.

I was expecting a bunch of campers kind of close to each other, with some woods near by but that is not at all what it is like.  A lot of the people have it as their weekend homes in the summer.  Sure, they are based off of campers, my friend has a 34 ft one, but that is where things end.  There are really nice decks, special pavilions, paver walkways, and yet completely in the woods.  The best way around is by modified golf carts and people go from place to place, stopping and just talking with people from all over.

Now to the time I had with the kids.  We got to use my friends pop up which is just a place to sleep for the three of us because we spent about that much time in there.  We got there on Friday when it was starting to rain and it rained the whole day.  Now, what happens when there is rain and dirt?  Mud.  Do kids like mud? Yes!  My son went through every change of clothes that he had brought by 11pm.  My daughter, almost every change.  At one point, my son was covered from head to toe and dripping mud as were other kids.  I think that the only thing that any parent said was "Laundry tomorrow".  

The next day, sure there was mud, but there were berry patches, rope swings, other kids with swords, watching dad make a fire using only wood and a lighter (and then half a bottle of lighter fluid and thin wood flats 2 hrs later), hotdogs cooked over said fire, swimming, more mud, a movie at the neighbors and a big star wars battle on the road until about 2am.

Yeah, it was great fun.  It would be nice if dad found a play friend next time.

Happy Birthday America!!

So tomorrow is Independence Day and I'm going to celebrate it with some friends.  One friend has invited my kids and I to his camp because they are throwing a party for his son, D.  I have the utmost respect for D because he has been fighting for what we live everyday.  I have heard the stories about D from his dad about what he was like as a kid, through the teenage years until he decided to join the Army.

I feel honored to be part of a celebration for this kid.  I don't know him but I feel that I do from hearing the stories, seeing the worry on his parents faces, and worrying about him because he is the closest person that I know that has fought for us.

So tomorrow, while surrounded by friends and enjoying the fun, just remember that it took a lot to get where we are.  Brothers, Sisters, Sons, Daughters, Friends, Neighbors, The Person Down the Street, all of them.  They are still doing what needs to be done.

My hat is off to those fighting for what we have.

The car is alive with the sound of

me screeching.

So today I had a nice little jaunt that only took me about 2.5 hrs to get there.  That is a good deal of car singing in my case.  Now, I'll say that I have no problem with belting out the hits that I know the words to, but only in the confines of the Buick.  I'll be the first to admit that I can't hit some of the high notes, or low notes, or note in between, but I enjoy it.  One of the only problems is that I try to sing along with such things as opera, (yeah, have not one bit of understanding of what I'm singing or if I'm making the right words), jazz that has no real words (I make those up depending on what I am seeing) and dance type stuff (yeah, I sing beeps and hoots).

Now, after those 2.5 hrs of car singing, I did the job I had to do which took all of 20 mins, and then I had another 90 min until I got to the next place.  So yeah, I sung.  But I got tired so I thought.

I could get into what I was thinking but I'll leave it at it dealt with women and how it's been over 4 months for anything, I mean anything, other than a few innocent touches.

It was a long day, and not in a good way.

plink