While tucking my youngest into bed late last night before retiring myself, I noticed that her pillow smelled oddly of dog food. "Perhaps the dog was laying up here with her?" I questioned silently. Scooping her up in my arms for one last hug and kiss, I felt dog food under her back. I followed the trail up and underneath her pillow I found some hair bands, hairbrush, comb, a book, some assorted Halloween trinkets and a tidy pile of dog food about the size of a small coffee cup. Rather than wake her up and clean it, I shrugged and laid her back down, soundly, to slumber the rest of the evening on her secret stash. In the morning I asked her about her treasures.
"Baby why do you have dog food under your pillow?"
"In case the doggies get hungry in the middle of the night." she said.
"Well baby I lock them in the bathroom at night where they sleep."
"No you didn't!" she exclaimed.
"Sweety, they are still locked in there." I said as I pointed to the door.
Realizing I had her in checkmate, she smiled and questioned "I love you daddy?"
"I love you too, Lydi-girl."
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
The Cleanupinator
Saturday was a day where daddy had some work to do and mommy wasn't feeling too well due to a headache. I asked the girls to go play rather than just stay glued to the floor in front of the TV. The two younger girls decided to go upstairs and cause yet-to-be-seen damage in the playroom. My oldest daughter decided to go to her room for some "me time".
From the den, I kept hearing sighs and soft exclamations of exhasperation like "why won't you just work?" This kept up for about 30 minutes. I figured she would come talk to me despite and overwhelming urge to sneak around the corner and just watch her little creative mind at work. I could tell she was in deep contemplation about something and just decided to let her figure it out on her own. Quietly a little red head appeared from around the corner and a big tear rolled down her face.
"What's wrong baby?" I asked.
"The Cleanupinator doesn't work." she said sadly.
"What's the Cleanupinator?" I asked.
She handed me a napkin with a neatly drawn almost-to-scale schematic as shown above. It appeared to be a table with voodoo dolls taking a shower and then a map to a worm hole in the space-time continuum. After a little explanation from her, I realized that her little entrepreneur mind is already at work coming up with the next big thing, just like her Daddy. See, the Cleanupinator is a brilliant attempt by a 6 year old to understand the basic laws of physics by swinging a pencil on a rope to push her dollies off her night table into a basket so she can then put them away when she cleans her room.
This turned into a 30 minute science experiment in the kitchen and a discussion on Newtonian laws as to why swinging a pencil on a piece of string can knock a hair clip across the table but barely makes an apple wobble.
She quickly understood that there wasn't enough mass in the pencil to knock her dolls off her nightstand and said "I guess i need to swing something heavier than a pencil to knock the dolls into the basket."
Watch out world. Baby, you will change the world for the better one day.
Daddy loves you.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Fruitcake
I have just decided to get back into regular blogging. I have to record this stuff because I think my daughters will just love it when they are older. I know I will.
This is a quick conversation I just had with Emma, my oldest daughter.
"Daddy was King Arthur real?"
"I'm not sure baby. Some think so, some think he was just a myth."
"Daddy what's a myth?"
"Well it's really just something that is passed from person to person. It's a story, usually with a moral, that is handed down like folklore."
At this point I was expecting her to ask about folklore.
Wide-eyed she responded, after a short pause, "Passed on kind of like a fruitcake?"
"Yes baby, like a fruitcake."
This is a quick conversation I just had with Emma, my oldest daughter.
"Daddy was King Arthur real?"
"I'm not sure baby. Some think so, some think he was just a myth."
"Daddy what's a myth?"
"Well it's really just something that is passed from person to person. It's a story, usually with a moral, that is handed down like folklore."
At this point I was expecting her to ask about folklore.
Wide-eyed she responded, after a short pause, "Passed on kind of like a fruitcake?"
"Yes baby, like a fruitcake."
Friday, June 4, 2010
Home
06/09: I was working 60-70 hours per week on a massive project @ work. I prayed that God put me in a position where I could spend more time with my family, "regardless of the cost".
07/09 - 09/09: Sales @ work drop like a rock for one reason or another. My boss graciously gives me 30 days notice that my position is being terminated. I still respect him for the soft landing he provided for me. Being cut to only part time forced me to use IRAs to make ends meet. Financial penalties paid for early withdrawal.
09/20/09: Drove from Maryville TN to Columbus OH and back on the same day for an interview with my present employer.
09/23/09: Position offered and accepted.
10/04/09: First weekly commute to Columbus.
10/05/09: First day of work.
Over the next 8 months I would make weekly commutes between my home life and work life. My beautiful wife showed her strength and determination as she kept our home in top working order, managing 3 little girls, housework, and finding time here and there for "me time."
Along the way, God kept reminding me how lucky I was to have a job in this economy. He kept putting people in front of me, in need of money or food. As recently as last Friday, I was able to help a young lady stranded at a gas station in Knoxville get home to her family in Chattanooga with $20 to cover gas.
The pain of leaving to go to Columbus every Sunday over the past eight months has been brutal - a very painful cost physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Every time I walked the dogs on the weekend, I'd turn around and look at our little house and thank Him for the job He gave to us, and also prayed that the house would sell or I would be offered a job here at home. I was offered a job closer to home a few months ago but turned it down due to religious beliefs. Being closer to home and having more money sounded good, but I couldn't sell myself out and prey on the poor working for a payday advance company.
This past Monday I was formally offered a position in Nashville. It was with a great company and closer to home. Moving to Nashville would be better for our family in every way compared to Columbus. I accepted the offer and tendered my 2 week notice at my present employer. I prepared to continue hotel life during the week until the house sold.
My resignation this week came as a shock. It was very hard for me to do. I love my job. I did cry in front of the CEO as I handed her my resignation. I don't count that as a sign of weakness by the way. The people I work with have truly become my extended family and I was going to miss them dearly. Sadly, she accepted my resignation and said she would talk to my direct boss and explain the situation.
I sat in the office working on my current project and my boss walks in and said "would you stay on if you could just work from home?" Silence. No crickets, no cars passing outside, no hum from the computer. The words were totally deafening to me. "For how long?" I asked. "There is no reason you can't work from home – we're programmers and can work from anywhere. You have proven yourself with your knowledge, rapid learning, good programming, and your dedication to drive up here week after week. We don't want to lose you at all."
Needless to say, I accepted that offer. I start working from home the week after next. I will still have to drive up there probably once a quarter for planning meetings, but the working arrangement is permanent with the same pay and benefits. The working conditions are mine alone to mess up.
Compared to my friends who have been through tougher times of sickness, joblessness, or losing a family member, the price I have paid is just a shadow of their pain. However, not being able to hold your spouse and not being able to tuck your children into bed at night, or not being able to live in your own home wears on you in all aspects and is quite painful in its own right.
My faith in God has grown 10 fold during this time. My love for my friends and family by the same measure. I hope that God continues to put me in a position where I can help strangers out. I hope that my family will begin to go to Church so that they have the same peace of mind that I have as I rest each night in the loving hands of my God. I have no doubt that He is the great creator and master of all. I hope that God blesses my friends and family richly just as He has blessed my family. There are no coincidences in life. I firmly believe that now more than ever.
Children, Daddy will be tucking you in each night again. Happy and grateful, I have once again started to blog about our adventures. For now, I'm going outside to remove the for-sale sign from the yard.
07/09 - 09/09: Sales @ work drop like a rock for one reason or another. My boss graciously gives me 30 days notice that my position is being terminated. I still respect him for the soft landing he provided for me. Being cut to only part time forced me to use IRAs to make ends meet. Financial penalties paid for early withdrawal.
09/20/09: Drove from Maryville TN to Columbus OH and back on the same day for an interview with my present employer.
09/23/09: Position offered and accepted.
10/04/09: First weekly commute to Columbus.
10/05/09: First day of work.
Over the next 8 months I would make weekly commutes between my home life and work life. My beautiful wife showed her strength and determination as she kept our home in top working order, managing 3 little girls, housework, and finding time here and there for "me time."
Along the way, God kept reminding me how lucky I was to have a job in this economy. He kept putting people in front of me, in need of money or food. As recently as last Friday, I was able to help a young lady stranded at a gas station in Knoxville get home to her family in Chattanooga with $20 to cover gas.
The pain of leaving to go to Columbus every Sunday over the past eight months has been brutal - a very painful cost physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Every time I walked the dogs on the weekend, I'd turn around and look at our little house and thank Him for the job He gave to us, and also prayed that the house would sell or I would be offered a job here at home. I was offered a job closer to home a few months ago but turned it down due to religious beliefs. Being closer to home and having more money sounded good, but I couldn't sell myself out and prey on the poor working for a payday advance company.
This past Monday I was formally offered a position in Nashville. It was with a great company and closer to home. Moving to Nashville would be better for our family in every way compared to Columbus. I accepted the offer and tendered my 2 week notice at my present employer. I prepared to continue hotel life during the week until the house sold.
My resignation this week came as a shock. It was very hard for me to do. I love my job. I did cry in front of the CEO as I handed her my resignation. I don't count that as a sign of weakness by the way. The people I work with have truly become my extended family and I was going to miss them dearly. Sadly, she accepted my resignation and said she would talk to my direct boss and explain the situation.
I sat in the office working on my current project and my boss walks in and said "would you stay on if you could just work from home?" Silence. No crickets, no cars passing outside, no hum from the computer. The words were totally deafening to me. "For how long?" I asked. "There is no reason you can't work from home – we're programmers and can work from anywhere. You have proven yourself with your knowledge, rapid learning, good programming, and your dedication to drive up here week after week. We don't want to lose you at all."
Needless to say, I accepted that offer. I start working from home the week after next. I will still have to drive up there probably once a quarter for planning meetings, but the working arrangement is permanent with the same pay and benefits. The working conditions are mine alone to mess up.
Compared to my friends who have been through tougher times of sickness, joblessness, or losing a family member, the price I have paid is just a shadow of their pain. However, not being able to hold your spouse and not being able to tuck your children into bed at night, or not being able to live in your own home wears on you in all aspects and is quite painful in its own right.
My faith in God has grown 10 fold during this time. My love for my friends and family by the same measure. I hope that God continues to put me in a position where I can help strangers out. I hope that my family will begin to go to Church so that they have the same peace of mind that I have as I rest each night in the loving hands of my God. I have no doubt that He is the great creator and master of all. I hope that God blesses my friends and family richly just as He has blessed my family. There are no coincidences in life. I firmly believe that now more than ever.
Children, Daddy will be tucking you in each night again. Happy and grateful, I have once again started to blog about our adventures. For now, I'm going outside to remove the for-sale sign from the yard.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)