WW - Don't Mind Me...

The nice folks over at BlogHer were kind enough to give me fair warning that I have a commitment to post once every so often in order to keep my sidebar. I like BlogHer quite a bit, they have been really good to me so far, so I am sporadically posting during my hiatus in the hopes that they won't dump my tushie. So BlogHer, thanks for the email reminder instead of not simply hitting the "off" switch on me.

My family is pretty glad to have me "mentally home" as well as physically, and I have been extraordinarily busy, even without the blogging habit. Work is bad, family is good. Things are ok.

But I didn't realize how much I would miss you all.

Thanks again to Angie
for another ragin' Wordful Wednesday..."

254...and a half...

First off, just wanted to thank you all again for an absolute outpouring of emails and support, you really know how to love on a fellow. And as I said, dont go taking me off your readers, I'll be back. I may have to throw up a post now and again anyway to simply keep my BlogHer sidebar active...hope they dont go dumping me...

Just wanted to let you all know that Tuesday's Tribute will reside at Seven Clown Circus from now on, under the watchful loving eye of my friend Angie. Really proud to call her that...Not in a weird, stalky way...whatever... I encourage those of who have loved doing the tribute thing to continue with her...she really is great people. She should have a new button and info up for you in the next couple of days.

And lastly, in general, have fun. That's what all this is supposed to be about.

Back soon,

254 Posts.

After a number of months of doing this, I feel like many of you know me very well at this point. The part of my personality you havent been privy to is the one that seems to always get me into trouble.

For whatever reason, I'm a guy who seems to create trouble in relationships that I really enjoy. I don't really know what the reason is, and I am not so misguided that I just think that these things are ALL my fault, but I think that other people do a far better job of avoiding these land mines than I do. Im WAY too sensitive, WAY too controlling, WAAAAY too proud, and WAY too emotional. It could be the reason is that I like to confront things head on, assess blame (even when involves assessing blame to myself), find a solution, and try not to let it happen again. Maybe that is the ultimate proof that I am, in fact, male. But to take it back to the theme of my blog, it is quite possible I have some big life lessons yet to learn.

Im not going to be blogging for a while. Some things have happened lately, nothing to do with any of you, but kind of emotional stuff with a couple of friends that are making it increasingly hard for me to be here, and be happy about it. I wont be posting about any of the mess, unless I find myself in a position of having to defend myself. Otherwise, I am not into airing dirty blog laundry.

So I am backing away from it, and I hope to come back. I dont really know when, or if, but I hope this feeling goes away so I can enjoy this again.

I am in the process of moving Tuesday's Tribute to new ownership, and I will leave more on that soon when I work out the details. I will always be available on email, and will be reading you still, and sometimes maybe a comment if I cant contain myself. ;-)

Thanks for sharing space and time with me. I hope to be back.

Fondly,

WW - Roll it up real tight and JAM IT.

Thanks again to Angie
for another ragin' Wordful Wednesday..."

Also Thanks to 5 Minutes for Mom for "Wordless" Wednesday...I always have such a problem being wordless...

Tuesday's Tribute - Daddy Dearest

I am all too often reminded to be a positive example for my kids. In fact, if my wife wasn't a great balance for me, I would probably still be making some of the irrational and thoughtless decisions of my youth...meaning through my early thirties.

But in addition to having a positive male influence in your life, I am here today to share why having a negative role model has its value as well.

A number of years ago my mother made the decision to leave my "father" after 24 years of marriage. While I refer to him as my father, I must point out that he was actually my step-father, but had been around for the majority of my life.

He wasn't my biological father, but he was my Dad.

When my mom left, he took it pretty hard. He was not built to be alone, and didnt do it well. The house quickly fell into a state of disarray, and though he wasnt a man who was capable of admitting being in a state of depression, he was clearly there. It was no surprise when he started dating soon thereafter, but a bit concerning when he announced that he would be getting married again to a woman he had only met 3 weeks prior.

Well that woman, of course, turned out to be a psychopath. And long story long, she drove an incredible wedge between my Dad and my wife and I. Finally, this woman persuaded him that we were only loyal to my mother and her new husband, we were trying to ruin her marriage with my Dad, and ultimately persuaded him to cut off all ties with us. Not with my brother and sister of whom he was the true biological father, just his ex-wife's kid.

So after almost 3 decades, "Dad" became "my ex".

How do you put yourself in a place to be a child's father for the bulk of his life, and then just decide to walk away rather than face the hard times? Were you that scared of being alone again that you traded a son for a woman you knew to be trouble?

Any positive lesson you taught me is now suspect. Every decent thing I ever saw you do is now marred by your ultimate weakness and irresponsibility. And your legacy is that you are the biological father of two kids who are scared to tell you what they really think of you and your wife, for fear you will disown them. Nice work.

This week's Tribute is to an unbelievable coward. Clearly I carry some pain and bitterness, I know this. But in the end, I also have to thank you for what you did. For it is one thing to teach positive lessons, but to be a living example of what I will NEVER do to my kids is invaluable.

This Tribute is to you, "Dad". I only ever wanted you to be happy again.

Prompt Post #2

Howdy, egg hunters. Anyone else sick to death of Easter? (I mean the candy and egg Easter, not the resurrection of Christ Easter...don't haul off with the hate mail.) I swear, we have been doing Easter crap for almost a week. I am so done with this egg thing I could spit. And if you listen closely, you can actually HEAR me getting fatter from all the damn chocolate that used to be around here.

Your Tuesday's Tribute options this week:

1. Anything/Anyone you feel is worthy of a POSITIVE tribute. Friend? Family? Marshmallow Fluff?

2. Anything/Anyone you feel is worthy of a NEGATIVE tribute. Politician? Celebrity?

3. A blog or website that you love. I love it when you recommend sites, it's like a treasure hunt.

4. And this week's special prompt: This is for you passive aggressive types. Are you pissed at someone? Disappointed in someone? Tribute them by letting them have it this week. And if they read your blog and you still need to keep your opinion or beef in the shadows, then keep their name out of it, and do what you need to disguise yourself. I'm gonna have it out with a family member who I know will never read my blog. It'll be...cathartic...

And Remember:

Each week I pick my favorite Tribute from all the submissions, and feature the link to that post in a newfangled sidebar button...thingy...up above. Whether I love your writing, whatever you are tributing, or if you just made me laugh out loud, I will pick one post per week, and feature it in my center bar directly above. Just a little linky love each week to thank you for participating in Tuesday's Tribute.

Congrats again to Leslie at Stethoscopes and Stilettos whose post I really enjoyed last week, and whose link got to sit at the top of my blog all week! Nice work, Leslie!

Can't wait to see your tributes...remember, on Tuesday, it's not all about you.

The Amazing Stuff.

Too often I get caught up in all the yelling, fights, fits and complaining. It takes a camera and good archiving discipline to remind me what is getting shoved aside...the reason I became a Daddy.

I catch us complaining quite a bit, and it is WAY too easy to forget that others aren't as fortunate, or have significant tragedies. So as I thought about my brother and his family tonight who are dealing with an aggressive son, or the families who can't have kids, or the family who just lost a baby, I am reminded. To be thankful. To sit in front of my pictures, and find my favorites. To remind myself what is important, and what isn't. To know what is small, and what is big. And to once again remind myself that it could all be gone in an instant, and how important it is to leave everything on the field.

And tomorrow, hug them as tight as the law will allow. And start again.

Do you know about Dad-Blogs? Go see...
I really like these guys.

WW - Seriously Bad Idea.

First off, I gotta thank you all for supporting me at Hot Dads yesterday. You came over in force, and dropped a Comment Bomb on them the likes of which they hadn't seen yet, and I love you for it. I've talked to a few of you about the whole Hot Dads thing, and I appreciated your candor regarding their content. Yes, I too find some of the posts a bit...graphic...and I hope to keep posting for them, unless the content gets too...graphic...That stuff isnt really me, as you know, and my wife keeps my blogging on a short leash. If she thinks that I am on here writing porn, it's game over, baby. So I hope to be one of the relatively clean Daddys over there. With the occasional F Bomb...or two...

Speaking of bad ideas, I went to New Orleans yesterday for a quick overnighter for work. I know I didn't say anything, I didnt want Jill Jill putting a rabbit on my wife's stove while I was gone. So I am getting to the Tuesday Tributes as quick as I can...tonight if I can stay awake.

Seriously bad idea, drinking with co-workers. Especially if you are doing it on Bourbon Street after an airplane landing that included clutching the overhead compartment, and an afternoon of nailbiting bloody corporate layoffs.

But a seriously fun group...



Three vodkas and nine olives on the way to dinner. Warning bells.



I had a fantastic ribeye, and then washed it down with a pony keg of red wine, and this tort.



I then proceeded to lick the plate clean in front of a stunned restaurant. Yes, I'm from out of town, and they don't have chocolate in Texas.



Learned something new about the French. Their after-dinner-apertifs are rather large, and taste like rancid Hawaiian Punch. And there's a lot of them.



And learned something new about photography...no matter how good your camera, one drunk moron has every remaining shot out of focus.



So tonight I am back, and still mercifully employed. Until I hit "publish".

---

Thanks again to Angie
for another ragin' Wordful Wednesday..."

Also Thanks to 5 Minutes for Mom for "Wordless" Wednesday...I always have such a problem being wordless...

Tribute to Snooty Bitches (repost)

(Repost- originally posted on HotDads on 4-7-09)


Partly due to an extremely busy life the past couple of months, I have been dragging my ass about posting on HotDads. Then on Friday, I was called on to the Daddy carpet (good-naturedly), and encouraged to post by some Hot Dad loyalists before my lazy ass was shown the door.
All that being said, here I am with my tale...and for those of you who know me, this is my Tuesday Tribute to a couple of snooty bitches I met yesterday who ultimately I discovered could not be counted on for a shred of humanity.

You see, my beautiful wife and I are in month 6 of looking for acceptable bedding to adorn our chamber of love, or as I am proud to call it, "The Speed Zone". We have exhausted thousands of stores in search of appropriate comforters/sheets/etc to set the stage, and have not found anything that would stand up to our lifestyles. Make all the assumptions you want.

So in an effort to maximize some daylight hours while the kids napped, I ran out to Costco to grab a couple of deckchairs, and then headed to a store we had not explored yet, at the request of my wife, called Hemispheres.

In my hurry to leave the house, I had quickly thrown on a pair of shorts, a tshirt my wife had just purchased for me, and thrown a fleece on top. Grab my flipflops, and run. With all the hauling of deckchairs around Costco, I was rather warm once I got back out to the car, so I removed my fleece. Drove to Hemispheres. Hop out of the car, head into what turned out to be the Nirvana of Duvets.

So, in I go. Tshirt, shorts, flipflops, and a fat wallet, ready to spend whatever necessary to euthanize Sheetsearch 2008-9. This being a high end furniture store in a bad economic climate, I am instantly assaulted by two salesbeauties ready to service my every retail need. And I mean, I'm excited. Not only because I am already seeing bedding that looks like it is gonna be a winner with the real decision maker, but also because the staff and customers in this place seem to rival the Hollywood elite. As crappy as I look in my torn cargo shorts and brand spankin' new rocker tshirt, I know there's a good chance that now I am around the pretty people, my look may be interpreted as trendy instead. Lookin' good, sir.

The plastic people ask if I need help, give me a coupon flier, and quickly retreat from me. Hmm...odd, thought they'd be pushier. Check my pits for offending aroma, and continue with my search.

Got a question...call over Barbie. She doesn't look too taken with me, must be the wedding ring. Because I look SWEET, and I've got cash dollas to spend, yo.

Another question...kinda feel like I have to drag the gal over this time. What the hell? Honey, I may not be 185 anymore, but I am LOVED in Belgium, AND I'm a Hot Dad. Might be overestimating my chub-ass in these cargo shorts.

Final question...can't even get the gals to leave the counter for this one...and my self confidence is now circling the toilet bowl. But I have great news for the wife, so I'm headed home.

When I emerge from the car and begin unloading chairs, my wife walks up. She takes one look at me, and with a grimacing smile, she says "Oh honey, you're gonna be so embarrassed."

She points at my shirt.



You see, I'm a Hot Dad. And I'm bringin' sexy back to retail.

And to you snooty bitches, this Tuesday Tribute is for you. Next time, how 'bout fucking saying something? Pretend that even though you're 75% plastic, that you still have a heart under all that glitter lotion and silicone. In this emaciated economic climate, you just lost a customer. I will never again set foot in your store.

I mean, after we buy your fucking comforter.

Tuesday's Tribute - Snooty B*tches at Retail

Today's "Snooty B*tch" post will be found at another blog I am writing for known as Hot Dads.

Yes, as it turns out, I am a "Hot Dad".

And yes, their entry requirements are pretty loose.

Will you go there to read and comment on my post today? Pretty Please? They have been giving me crap about not posting over there, and bragging about the number of comments each of them got on their posts. So will you go over there, comment, and help me blow their numbers out of the water? Show 'em how we roll at Halftime. And make sure you add them to your reader, as I will be writing for them from time to time.

See you over there?

Yet Another Jay and Deb Production.

The Prompt Post

Howdy, fruit loops. Happy Monday to you. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I did, until my boss emailed me stuff Saturday morning that didn't paint me in a very good light, so I got to be pissed off and lose sleep over it all weekend. Thanks, my man. Owe ya.

Your Tuesday's Tribute options this week:

1. Anything/Anyone you feel is worthy of a POSITIVE tribute. Friend? Family? Marshmallow Fluff?

2. Anything/Anyone you feel is worthy of a NEGATIVE tribute. Politician? Celebrity?

3. A blog or website that you love. I love it when you recommend sites, it's like a treasure hunt.

4. And this week's special prompt: Someone at retail that really helped, OR who REALLY pissed you off...I may have a disturbing story to share on this prompt this week...

And Remember:

Each week from now on I will be picking my favorite Tribute from all the submissions, and featuring the link to that post in a newfangled sidebar button...thingy. Whether I love your writing, whatever you are tributing, or if you just made me laugh out loud, I will pick one post per week, and feature it in my center bar directly above. Just a little linky love each week to thank you for participating in Tuesday's Tribute.

Congrats again to Hip Chick whose post I really enjoyed last week, and whose link got to sit at the top of my blog all week! Nice work, Hip! (Can I call you Hip? Or do you prefer Mrs. Chick?)

Can't wait to see your tributes...remember, on Tuesday, it's not all about you.

Bluebonnets and Blue Eyes.

After my friend Holly posted her hilarious pictorial of trying to get her annual bluebonnet shots, I was reminded of what an amazing time of year this is in Texas, right before it starts to get stink-hot.

Two years ago my daughter gave us some glorious shots in the endless state flowers, and I was reminded today about how difficult it was to coax a smile out of a 2 year old, who only wanted to try to pick the protected flower.

So whaddya do? Ask her what she wants for her birthday, and snap away.

"Belle, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, a princess bike, a princess dress, a princess party, a princess cake... "

An amazing time of year for the Bluebonnet,

An amazing time of year for Daddys.

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Do you know about Dad-Blogs? Go see...
I really like these guys.

Maegan, MamaKat, and Miserable Dirtbags.

First off, I have to commend the lovely Maegan for being such a good sport yesterday, she loved the video. I knew there was something I liked about that gal, and if I offended her, she sure didnt let on! Go check her out soon, she has an insane (awesome) sense of style, and she and her husband are living the LA life while the rest of us watch it on TV...well, not me, but everyone else. I swear. Really.

Next, MamaKat's Workshop had a writing prompt that I wanted to answer today:

Prompt: Are you always right?

Answer: Yes. See below.



Other than that, I only have a short message for a guy I almost met this morning.

The guy in the pickup.

Who had previously eaten his Chick-Fila, gathered up his trash, and placed it in the refuse-disposal device...the back of his truck.

You see, my friend, you think it's funny. Or, you believe that there is some benevolent mystical force that along with removing toenail-perforated socks from your dryer, also removes and disposes of your trash from the bed of your truck in an appropriate container for you.

But in fact, when you are hurrying to Walmart to get the latest box set of "Dirty Jobs" and an eighteener of Olympia, that trash catches the gust of wind (that I can only assume was intended to carry the last 20 points of your IQ off into the breeze) and ends up on the street where our kids play.

You, my friend, as well as the lady I saw roll down he window recently to dispose of TWO full fast food bags and TWO half full Big Gulps at the stoplight she was bored at, can share the same feces-filled room in hell.

Throw your damn trash in a trash can. It was all I could do not to chase you down, follow you home, and spend a beautiful afternoon kanoodling with your neighbors to inform them what an ass you are.

If the problem is simply that you dont have enough room in the cab for that last bag of trash, it might be time for a minivan. Whatever the cause of your deficiencies, it's time to wake up and become a valid citizen. Look it up.

And while you're at it, mow your lawn. Never mind how I know.


(Yo MamaKat...See how right I am...AGAIN??!!)