Trying something new

http://thedomesticatedman.blogspot.com

Cracker Barrel

So when my wife and started dating we had decided at first... wait, let me back up a little. When I met my wife, she was dating a guy. Her and I hit it off fantastically and we enjoyed each other's company. So I never tried to steal her away, I wasn't that kind of a guy, but I did make sure that she knew I wanted to be good friends with her. When that guy broke up with her, I didn't want to immediately jump up in the air and be like, woo hoo now you're mine. She called me and said, just because me and (blah blah) broke up doesn't mean you and I can't still hang out. oh yeah, the guy she was dating was a good drinking buddy of mine.
So we hatched this plan that her and I were going to be travel partners. We both wanted to travel, both wanted to go over seas and also travel around the US. We started saving up money to go to Europe. We hadn't really planned our trip per say, but I believe that we decided that in a year we would go to Italy, or France, or just somewhere in Europe.
Before that year was up, we were dating and we started to do a little travelling together. The first trip we went to was Savannah. Neither of us had been, and everyone told me it was so much like my home town of New Orleans. Which it is not, but none the less.
On the way down we got hungry and stopped at Cracker Barrel. It was as usual trips to a place like that, a good meal, got in and got out and we went on our way. On the way back, we stopped again at a Cracker Barrel and that started a little joke between me and my wife that if we're going on vacation, we'd better damn well start it and end it at Cracker Barrel. And we did until we started eating more healthy and I got tired of having to take a crap 10 minutes after I ate there.
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, sorry this is such a build up and I'm promise that story next is not going to be as good as it was when I heard it. A friend of mine at work (actually a few friends) always talk about, ooh we went to Cracker Barrel last night, or this weekend or this morning. We act like it's the manna that God gave to Moses to feed the Israelites. Like there is nothing better than this place. And we joke about the characters that are there. People coming up to your table to talk to you, just oddities that only seem to happen at Cracker Barrel.

So my friend went with someone else for the first time, and when she got her food, she cut into the chicken and noticed that it looked funny. They had only cooked one side of it and the bottom of it was completely raw. Well he got the manager, showed them what was wrong, his friend informed the manager that if she got food poisoning he was in for a fight. Well they brought out another plate, needless to say she wasn't in the mood to eat. But my friend, who can't think of another place that is as good as this, just kept eating and eating, while she was complaining about how horrible it was there. And I can just see him shovelling potato casserole into his mouth saying "yeah, I can't believe that happened, uh that's so horrible. you going to eat that biscuit?"

So that's my Cracker Barrel story. See how this restaurant just brings people together?
oh yeah, and the trip to Europe that my wife and I were planning when we were just friends?
Turned into our honeymoon.

12 days and counting

So my wife and I have 12 days until our due date. Things seem to be going as normal. Its our first child so everyone has something to say to "help" us wait. I hear, oh the first one always comes a few days late. And I have friends that had their first one 3 weeks early (so much for that one), but right now, she is just relaxing. She still goes to work everyday, and still comes home and tries to stay comfortable. She doesn't complain too much either. And I have to say, she enjoys complaining. Not in a bad way, but like in a : oh, meatloaf for dinner again, kind of complaining. But for some reason, probably because we wanted to get pregnant and she's pretty excited about it, she hasn't complained about the discomfort, or the swollen ankles or the fact that she thinks her ass got big. (I'm' not complaining about any ass size, she's got a nice ass. that's all I'm saying)So we have our nursery done. We have our list of names we'll run through when we see her, and we have the dumb idea that everything will just go as planned.We're a couple that packs for vacation the day we leave, so I don't know why we think it will go smoothly. I'm sure I'll be at work, she'll be at home and I'll have a complete freak out when she calls.

The Domesticated Man

I've noticed recently that I have quite the skills of a homemaker. I cook, I clean, I make sure everything is in order in my house before I leave for my job. I enjoy some of these chores like cooking. I learned on my own, although my mother is a fantastic cook, but she never really "taught" me how. I guess I just watch or maybe I just picked up on what was something I would be good at later. But a few days ago I was talking to a friend and she asked me why I looked so tired.

First of all, fuck you. Not something you ask someone. Just because I have dark circles under my eyes doesn't mean I want someone to asked me about them. Second, I told her, well I've been working kind of hard at home. I was preparing for family to come in for a visit and was working quite hard getting the place nice and clean. So after I told her this she said, well make sure you re having fun.

Fun? When would I have time to have fun? She seemed a little surprised that I don't spend my spare time playing golf, or sitting around reading, or just relaxing. Trust me, I do relax, but I do it in small intervals so that I can get somethings done in my life. When I was single, I didn't care about things like my place being clean. I think I cleaned my apt once a month and that was because I was probably trying to find what the smell was. But I just don't sit around not doing anything, or chatting on the phone, or strolling through a meadow. I get up in the morning, I got for a jog, I come home and I get to work. Nothing fancy, but I tidy up around the house. Maybe vac cum some cat hair off the furniture, fold some blankets that are all messed up. I'll clean up the kitchen. Things like that.

And even as I am writing this blog, I get that self realization that..... I am no longer a single, crazy, beer drinking, ass grabbing young man anymore. I have become Domesticated. Much like a dog, or a cow. Well I don't know if cows really were roaming wild, drinking Jack Daniel's and smoking on the corner or anything like that, but now they are pretty much just at the disposal of their owner.

So with this friends comment about having fun, I was a little peeved about it thinking, "well sorry that you're not married yet and you don't have someone that you want to spend time with, or that wants to spend time with you. And I'm sorry that you are too busy with your career to be worrying about how your abode looks, but I am". But then these comments that are running through my head stop me again. I'm happy with my life. I'm glad that I got married when I did and to whom I did. My life is pretty darn great. Sure I'd like to have sex a little more, but hey, we're busy folks here. And sure I'd like to get all fucked up more often, or go out to bars sometimes, but hey. I can't go blowing my money like that in a bar anymore, and I cant drink like I used to (or so my doctor thinks).

But I'm not really sure when the change occurred. I was single, then dating, then engaged, then married. Even after we were married we still partied, still got roaring drunk, still had sex on the couch in the middle of the afternoon, still blew money when we didn't have it. But slowly and surely it all seemed to mellow out. We started staying home more, mainly because we weren't seeing each other as much with work schedules. We didn't drink as much (had a lot to do with her pregnancy as she stopped drinking 9 months ago).

Things just seemed to slow down over the course of being married. But there wasn't just one moment in time when it took over. When I replaced the sitting around in my boxers at the table with a cig and a cup of coffee to drinking a cup of coffee while I rinsed off the counter so that there aren't ants coming in the house.

whew!
Things change. I read other blogs of people who are married and have more active lives than we do. they go out with friends, and go out partying and maybe they don't do it as much as I think they do, but it seems like I haven't done that in a while. or maybe I'm not seeing the whole picture for myself. But when you look back at your life 5 years ago... are you the same person? Did you want to be? Would you even change it if you could?


doubtful.

oops

So I decided after my run today that it was time to clean the kitchen up a bit. Don't worry it wasn't all nasty dirty, like ants and food around, it was just in disarray. I had some dishes that were drying that I need to put up, pots and pans not in their proper place, some dish towels all astray. But one thing was a loaf of french bread I had bought. I really don't know why I bought it. I recall thinking at the store, oh I'm make some bruschetta, or I'll toast them for some dip, or I can make a nice tasty sandwich with this. Of course I didn't even open it up. It wasn't one of the fat loafs, more the skinny ones: a petite pain, or baguette if you will. Anyway, when I picked it off the counter it was rock hard. Like hard enough to beat the cat with. Not that I would, but she's certainly asking for it.

I'm starting to feel more and more guilty about letting anything go to waste. If I don't finish my meals, I'll keep what I've got and eat the left overs the next day at work, but now I'm even feeling bad about not eating the leftover's leftovers. (yeah that's right, I'm obviously cooking too much food, but I try.)

So now I'm left with this concrete pole of bread that I couldn't even make french toast with. I'm wondering if bread crumbs would work with it. Perhaps over a nice broccoli casserole. hmmmmm.

a cold one

On my drive home tonight I heard a commercial for some bar, somewhere I wont be going, and doing things i wont be doing. But what it did was advertise $1 beer and that reminded me of a great time in my life.

When I was young, both just before college and then when I'd come home to visit, I would frequent a bar down in New Orleans called Madigan's. At this bar, every night they would have "dollar draft." It was slid down the bar in a frosty mug (a fresh one with each beer) with beer splashing over the rim as it got to you.. little slivers of ice floating off the glass and a basket of hot (if not stale) popcorn.

I would go here as one of the first bars I went to as a young man, as the drinking age was still 18 when I was living there. I would bring friends there, people visiting from out of town, and I'd even meet my sister there for a drink from time to time. The $1 draft in the commercial reminded me of probably some of the best times of my life. If you re ever in the city, I recommend it highly.

My pregnancy weight

Sooooo, I know that my wife is probably not all too happy with the fact that she gained weight with the pregnancy. What person is. She looks fantastic and has a good attitude about it. People keep coming up and telling her that she looks great and that she has only gained the baby belly. Her response is normally "thank you, but my ass was not this big nine months ago." Like I said, a good attitude about it. Me on the other hand, I'm not happy. I have gained weight as well. I've normally been on the average side with weight. In high school I was so active that I pretty much had a six pack from all my running around. Then in college I was still young and had that great metabolism and never seemed to gain weight unless it was from lifting weights. Then I became an adult with a real job and no money. I ate like crap, normally peanut butter sandwiches 3 times a day, and that started my gain of weight to look like a normal person.

Recently I've been having trouble maintaining my weight. I know its my fault completely. Drinking too much, staying up late and eating stuff I shouldn't. I do try to eat healthy, with plenty of fruits and veggies, but since she got pregnant, Ive been eating whenever she eats. The only thing that really bothers me is that I've been exercising more than ever. Running 2 miles a day and trying to eat healthy during the day. I cant seem to shake any of the weight and personally I feel that I've even gained since I started jogging. I'm hoping that I can at least start to lose some weight when the baby is born with all the running around and lack of sleep.
Don't you wish I could complain more about my pregnancy?-

Getting Close

Well, Sorry I haven't written in a while. Not like I have anyone reading or anything, but still. I should be polite. We've had a lot of people coming to visit us since my wife is now 9 months pregnant. We haven't done much travelling just because we wanted to spend the time getting the nursery ready and the like. I've got to tell you, having family come and visit and stay with you is not as fantastic as it sounds. Don't get me wrong. I love my family and my in-laws, but I sort of have a schedule that I like to stay on, and with family..... screw the schedule.

That and now that my wife is showing quite well, people just like to come up and talk to her about everything horrific that could happen to a baby. "oh watch out for the TV, babies can pull it down on themselves and that will be the end" Thanks bitch, I needed one more thing to think about killing my small helpless unborn baby. Whatever.

Today, I went to the grocery store to get the weeks assets. I picked up the milk and saw the expiration date was June 3rd and thought to myself : "self, there's a good chance that we could have a baby before this milk expires" When I told my wife that she just responded " don't worry, you know I'll drink it before it expires" as if that's what I was really worried about. Well I guess there's nothing I can really do or get worried about (besides the History Channel special saying that the world was going to end Dec. 21 2012) until she goes into labor/ drops some amniotic fluid on the floor. Wish me luck mothers/fathers/ baby's daddy's.

I'm going to need it

On the fence with the Braves

So we were thinking about going to the Braves game tonight. We're on vacation, doing lots of housework, and wouldn't mind a little outing. But the weather isn't exactly up to par for a night out at the park. We'd both love to go. Have a few friends that we could meet up there, but with 54 degree weather, and a chance of rain (not to mention a 7 month pregnant wife), I just don't see it in the cards. When we made plans to go, it was 80 degrees outside. Perfect for sitting back and watching a game, with or without a beer. A hot dog, of course, but I'd forgo the beer if it would make the wife salivate. I don't want to be unfair. Just not sure yet. I think we may just wait for a warmer day. I guess we're the typical fair weather fan.

The Summer of Clean

Well, it's Easter afternoon. I didn't go to mass. I know, not a very good Catholic boy, but it's not as easy to get motivated to go when I have to go alone. I'm sure that's no reason, but it's my reason. Plus perhaps since I'm listening to my Led Zeppelin collection on Itunes it makes it a little better. They were the hammer of the gods. Well, it's cold outside, a little cold inside, and I have to get ready for work. The wife is doing well. Her belly is growing a little more these days as we get closer to the due date. She is taking it all in stride. A few aches and pains from her belly being heavier, but she is happy for all the aches and pains. We're on vacation next week, but not going anywhere. We need to do a nice deep cleaning of the house. Next month we'll have some visitors and this is the last chance we can do it the right way before I have to do it myself and probably not do it up to her standards. But we'll at least have some plans to go out to dinner, catch a braves game, and spend time with each other. AAAahhhhhh nothing like a vacation spent cleaning.

WHAT?

AOL???? Are you fuckin crazy? Asking if they are the best college team ever... Because they won two NCAA Championships back to back? Ever heard of UCLA? Ever hear of Kentucky? Cinn.? Florida hasn't even won the most games. Hasn't been to the tourney more than any other school. What a dumb ass question. The only thing I can say about Florida is that the interviews they gave last night were top notch. There was no "we kicked their ass.." or anything like that. They didn't want to go into the realm of are you the best team in the world. They just wanted to enjoy their win last night. And as far as the coach went, even he said they weren't the most talented team out there. He said that they were just the best guys to play together. Good for him. Good for the Gators. I'm not a big NCAA guy, and I certainly didn't watch the game, but if Florida can pull it off, good for them. When I was in college, everyone hated Florida. They were the force to be reckoned with. Now, I don't hate them anymore. The people I know that went to Fl. are great people. They don't rub it in your face. They'll talk about the great game, they say how proud they are of their team, and then the drop it. It's like they know they went to a great powerhouse school, and they know you know it... so whats the point in telling you again. Georgia..... a different story for a different blog.

Cup a Joe

So the power went out at my house today. Not sure why, but probably because of the massive construction project that is going on near us. So I call GA Power, and they said it would be a few hours. No big deal, it's my day off. I'll just do something to occupy my time, its not like I wanted to sit in front of the TV or something. Seeing as I hadn't had my cup of coffee and I wasn't going to make any with the power out, I went to Starbucks. Yes, I said it, I went to Starbucks. Sorry for all of you that think Starbucks is ruining the world, but it's close, they make coffee, and I want coffee. So I go in and order my usual... a cup of coffee. Nothing special, don't like frappacappamoccachocalata yayas. Just a cup of coffee. So I go to put a little non fat milk in, have to watch the fat content, I have hellish cholesterol, and I'm waiting for the guy in front of me to finish. I guess I could go around and wedge my way in, and reach over and get my milk, but like I said, I have a few hours to kill. Plus I'm a nice person. Well this guy pours his milk, stirs, puts in sugar, stirs, puts in a few sprinkles of cocoa (I suppose that's what is in the salt shakers there) stirs. I was getting a little perturbed, but hey, dude's making his coffee, whatever. So he takes a baby sip.. yeah don't want to burn yourself Kramer. I guess this guy must have been a professional coffee maker or something, because it wasn't to his liking. A little more sugar, stir. Sip.. a little more milk, stir. Sip... few more sprinkles of cocoa, or perhaps bits of my soul, I don't know. stir.. Sip.
C'MON, for the love of all that is blogged about, it's fuckn coffee. it's not going to not taste like coffee no matter how much crap you put in it. The bad thing is, this isn't the first time its happened. I have to wait in line for milk all the time at Starbucks. What is the deal with people that drink Starbucks. I've gone to Dunkin Donuts to get coffee before, and the young lady behind the counter that yells at me for my order, throws a cup of coffee and cream at me, and I'm out the door. Same with everyone that goes to Dunkin Donuts. They get their coffee and then the drink it, as is. Wow. it's so odd to have people "make" coffee at Starbucks. Like there is a secret recipe to making it taste better. If you don't like the way coffee tastes, don't buy it.


P.S.
On the way out, I happened to look at this guy's laptop, who I figured when you have your laptop out at Starbucks, youre either pretending to write, or actually getting some work done outside of the office... This guy was playing video games.
Nice..... Nice.

Satchmo

I dont know if anyone is a Louis Armstrong fan like I am, but I have to say that I almost cried when I saw the newest Grolsch commercial.

OOPS

So I'm kind of terrible about talking on the phone. I don't really like doing it. I don't know if there is the chance of that pregnant pause during the conversation (ha, this will make more sense later as it is sooooo funny to me), or if it's because I have to use energy to actually talk, I don't know. But I just don't like talking on the phone. I call my folks, once a week or so to check in, I'll call my wife from work to see how she's feeling or if I need to pick something up on the way home, but even then, I find myself thinking...."how can I end this conversation? Quickly"

I don't call friends that live in other states that often, and sometimes I feel bad when they call me and say, "hey! where ya been? Haven't heard from you in a while.." I mean, I cant really say, "oh I just don't like talking to you on the phone." That would be rude, like I don't want to put the effort into continuing our friendship. I do like to keep my friends close, and talk to them by email, or IM, or something I could type, but on the phone is just a bit of energy that I would rather reserve for, I don't know, yard work. jogging. watching TV. Work.(where I constantly have to talk).

This leads me to my delimma. Is there a statute of limitations on not calling a friend when you have good news. Case and point, my wife being pregnant. I had a friend of mine, close friend, move out of town a few years ago. We tried to keep in touch, talked seldomly on the phone, mainly my fault, and recently I just hadn't had the time to call him. I know, I know, it doesn't take that much time to pick up the cell and call someone, but I didn't. I talked to him today, about 8 months too late I feel now. I told him that the wife was pregnant, he was quite excited, and he asked how far along was she. "we have about 2 more months..." pregnant pause (see I told you that would be funny). He joked a little that he was going to have to smack me around next time he saw me, and I joked with him how he would have killed me if I called and said, oh hey we have a little girl now. But I feel that he was a bit let down by the delay in the phone call with the news. Like he wasn't as good of a friend to me and I gave him a courtesy call. But that wasn't it. I just don't talk on the phone. I didn't want to call him while he is at work, which I coincidentally did. I don't have time at work to call him. I just feel a little bad, not too bad, because I'm a guy and I don't have feelings, but still a little. Like 'I should name our daughter after him' bad.

I wonder if I was in the realm of limitation for telling him. Kind of like when you're invited to a wedding, and you don't go. But you still have a year to send them that gift that you still haven't bought yet. Kind of like that. I had 10 months to actually tell him before labor starts, and I did it with 2 months to spare. I could have called him from the hospital.

blah

Just one of those days you know? I woke up, after hitting my snooze for an hour, not feeling like doing much. I still have to go to work today, but I want to be somewhat productive, or at least enjoy my morning. So I think, I'll have a cup of coffee outside on the porch. That's always nice. Well I knew that I would have to clean off a chair, it's been covered in pollen for a week now, but no worries, I didn't care. I don't mind doing a little work in order to enjoy the outdoors. Well I walk outside and it's snowing pollen. And those little things that pollen comes from. You know what I'm talking about, they look like yellow puffy worms. So I'm just standing there, wondering " Do I really want to be outside in this?" as I'm getting attacked and covered by these pollen worms. No. So now I'm just sitting inside, with my cup of coffee, looking outside at how nice it would be if it were the Attack of the Pollen Worms, and reading up on how great my life will be on the Mediterranean Diet. Damn you cholesterol.

I HATE MY FUCKING CHOLESTEROL

Dr. Appt Today

Going to get my ever pressing Cholesterol test done. AGAIN. Ive been having it tested for about 2 years now with no success. I'll do my best to take some pics and do a 'maigh-like' impression. All depends on if I have to pee in a cup.

UPDATE:
I did have to pee in a cup, but for some reason, I just wasn't in the mood to take pics. sorry kids.

Well Good morning to me

Woke up this morning to find that our cat had decided to throw up on my shoes.
Nice!

more later.

2 Things.

First:

I was kind of excited yesterday to read this article in the AJC

Of course, when I click on it the link was wrong and it went to the story on Alzheimer's. I started reading it thinking, wow, either I know nothing about Alzheimer's (assuming warts and duct tape had something to do with it) or AJC doesn't know how to link stories to it's page. The latter is correct. I never found out about the doubt that are cast on duct tape curing warts.

Second:

---

---

I woke up this morning and looked outside and thought "Do I really want to ruin this day by jogging?" And then I looked down at the tire around my waist......

I went for a jog.

A Jock Named Sue

So Atlanta based Jocks and Jill's is going into bankruptcy. Yep, Chapter 11. Want to know why? They blame the bankruptcy on the fact that they have to pay a 2.5 million dollar payment to a former employee based on sexual and racial discrimination. Now, I'm all for equality, and I hate the fact that people are judged on race and that there is even racism in the world, but this lawsuit is bringing down the company. Here's the back story:

"Employee Tracey Tomczyk, who worked her way through the ranks from store manager to controller. But after Tomczyk began dating a black man, company Chairman Joseph Rollins began taunting her, making crude sexual comments about her relationship, Tomcyzk's attorney, Edward D. Buckley, said Monday. Both Tomczyk and Rollins are white. Tomczyk was later fired after repeatedly objecting to the comments, her attorney said. She was the company's highest-ranking female manager at the time she was fired. In her lawsuit, Tomcyzk claimed sexual harassment, retaliation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and the corporation's negligent retention of Rollins, Buckley said." (from AJC)

Now, if you re pissed that you re getting treated unfairly because you are in an inter racial relationship. Good, you should be. It's no ones biz who you date, or sleep with, or marry. But bringing a lawsuit for the fact that you had emotional distress, which results in the bringing down of a company that employs quite a few people, causing them to possibly lose their jobs, and perhaps ruining their lives just doesn't seem right. Don't you think that there are lots of people who get shit on at work? Don't you think it would just be better to get the guy who is treating you unfairly fired? Maybe just having him lose his job, instead of trying to profit from the racist offenses towards you? And the fact that you re white doesn't really help the matter that you are accusing someone of being racist toward you, your boyfriend maybe should have sued. huh? Maybe instead of just suing people left and right because you re uncomfortable isn't the right thing to do. If you re going to get really pissed and you want revenge, just talk to the person that you are after, not all the other people that are employed by the company...

From Beginning to End

Not a bad view from my window this morning.


















Outside magazine and a sleeve of frozen Girl Scout Thin Mints in the evening.

Save the last green space on Dekalb ave.

Excerpt from: Atlanta and Decatur In-town Homes and News

Help Save Greenspace in the City of Atlanta!
One of the last public greenspaces on DeKalb Avenue between Atlanta & Decatur needs our help!

Good morning Neighbors,
After publishing our article “Atlanta is Going Green!” in our last Zac Report, we have had several phone calls from our neighbors agreeing with us in showing support for our local greenspaces. One of the businesses that contacted us was Donna Van Gogh’s on McLendon Avenuein Candler Park. Thanks to Teri Stewart and Iris Hale supplying the information, we are able to run the petition currently circulating in the neighborhood here:


URGENT!! SAVE DEKALB AVENUE’S LAST GREENSPACE
We, the undersigned neighbors of DeKalb Avenue, petition the Mayor’s office and City of Atlanta government for assistance in preserving the last publicly accessible greenspace remaining on the five miles between Decatur and downtown Atlanta. We are seeking funding to purchase this parcel located at the corner of Gordon Avenue and DeKalb Avenue for greenspace. This wooded half acre has been used by the community as greenspace for decades although it is privately owned. It is now slated for development.
This space is strategically located half way between the East Lake and Candler Park MARTA stations, on the bicycle route and two blocks from the "Peach Path", and en route to the proposed Beltline project. It contains over twenty trees protected by the City of Atlanta tree ordinance, including a historic (old Gordon/Southerland property) pecan tree. This space promotes the quality of life both in the DeKalb corridor and surrounding communities. DeKalb Avenue is more pedestrian and bicycle friendly because it exists. This half acre creates a sanctuary for wild life, retains a hardwood canopy for improved air quality and allows for natural run off and water absorption. The space has also been used as a community garden for the past several years. Retaining this as greenspace will be an asset to the sales of the many condos and townhouses currently under construction along DeKalb Avenue bringing higher occupancy and increased tax revenues to the City of Atlanta.
Communities directly affected include: Decatur, Kirkwood, Lake Claire, Candler Park, Inman Park, Reynoldstown/Edgewood and Little Five Points. We urge you to support our grassroots effort to find funding and save DeKalb Avenue’s "Last Stand". This would be a Win‑Win situation. Thank you for your attention. Please respond to the undersigned.
To sign the petition, you can visit Donna Van Gogh’s or, better yet, call Mayor Shirley Franklin at 404.330.6100. To read more about Atlanta’s greenspaces, check out our latest Zac Report! You can stop by our office anytime to pick up a copy in our outdoor box or you can check it out online at www.theZacReport.com.
Thanks for reading and supporting our local parks!
I hope you’re having a very successful day,
Zac

my wife's little secret

Well, one of them at least. As some of you may know from my previous posts, my wife is pregnant. 28 weeks pregnant to be exact. She has been wonderful during her pregnancy. I admit, I really thought she would be complaining, and hemming and hawing about this and that. But she really hasn't. She's had some bad days, but that's to be expected and I love her terribly for it. As with most pregnant women, I'm assuming here, she isn't all that happy with her weight. She knows that she is growing a human inside of her, but there is still the fact that for most of her life she's been trying to keep her weight maintained. And she has, my wife is gorgeous in every way, and I wouldn't ask her to lose 1/2 a pound. But, she is crazy. I know it's the hormones, and I know I'll get slack for it, but my pregnant wife is crazy.

So,...... I make my wife lunch to bring to work every day. I want her to get enough nutrients, and protein and calories to stay healthy. I also know that she LOVES snacks. Mainly chocolate. Mainly chocolate chip cookies. So what do I do as a good husband??? I send her to work with some. But what she does, and she had to explain this to me, is that she doesn't eat all of them. She always leave two, and brings them home, and they are there waiting for me when I go to make her lunch the next day. I, once, sent her to work with only two, thinking... well she only eats two, so I'll just send her two... wrong. She needs 4. She wants to eat 4. But in her mind, if she has 4 cookies, and she only eats 2 of them, then she is doing a good job. So I have to pretend not to really notice this, and send her to work with 4 cookies, knowing full well, I will get 2 back at the end of the day. This is one of her little secrets.

isn't she the best..

My friday night

Co-pilot.

I can't say it can get any better than this.

Although the drive home could have been shorter.

NO, Not the bananas!!!

Well, what's the point now? I mean if we can't trust the Chiquita lady, who can we trust? I mean paying right wing, and left wing (chicken wing, Detroit Redwings) terrorist groups money? From all those banana sales? uh. What is the world coming to? In Colombia? Needed "to protect the lives of its employees."? oh wait.. you mean they were paying money so that they wouldn't be killed? They were paying a group or groups of terrorists that were exhorting them?

Perhaps that should be the main part of the story. Yes they were giving money to groups that have performed terrorist acts and that fight guerrilla style warfare. But did anyone think about how this works? It's not like here in the US where our government is pure and clean, and there is no lying going on and people don't get charged with 4 out of 5 counts of conspiracy to lie....... never mind. People go missing a lot in Colombia. They are kidnapped by forces that try to ransom them off for money. Why wouldn't a company try to keep it's employees safe. We don't hear about it now, but in the future if Fox News paid a ransom for one of it's reporters to come home safe from Iraq, would we be saying they should be charged with a crime for supporting terrorism? I doubt it. Lets make sure that Chiquita banana lady is actually supporting the actions of terrorist groups before making it sound like she is a terrorist herself. She seems like a nice lady. And after all. She probably gets tired of carrying all the fruit around on her head. It takes a toll you know

The Old 'Hood'

I was taking groceries out of my car today when a man pulled up and asked if I lived in the house. I told him yes, because I don't care if someone asks me where I live most of the time. He preceded to tell me that he used to live in the neighborhood in the 60's. Grew up in the house next door to me. Told me about the guys he used to play ball with, the lakes near the house that they would camp at and told me a little about the neighborhood back then. Things like that there wasn't a house at the end of the street, just an empty lot, that all the backyards used to go up against a pasture with horses and cows, which is now the parking lot for a hospital. It was nice to hear about the 'hood' back in the day. It sounded great, he pointed at almost every house and named a boy that used to live there and that he used go camping for the entire weekend by themselves. Told me how his house was the first one to get AC. (hard to believe the outskirts of Decatur were like that back in the 60's) Hopefully one day there will be more kids in the neighborhood, that want to get together to play some street ball or football. I'm glad he stopped by for a nostalgic look. Either that or he was some crazed loon who will be trying to break into my house later tonight.

Telemarketers

So I never use the home phone. My folks call on it, my sister calls on it, and I don't think I've answered it in about 4 years. Even for them. We get the usual barrage of telemarketers calling about student loans, or digital cable, same crap you probably do, and since I never answer it, at the end of the week we have about 20 messages. Most of them are hangups. Until this week.
I was listening to them, normally waiting for the beep signalling that they had hung up. And I came across one that said this, "look, I know you're not going to answer and I've already worked six hours for this." (CLICK) and he hung up. LOVELY, not only am I annoyed by these phone calls, now the people making the phone calls are annoyed that I'm not picking up for them to bother me.

WEEK 27

8 hours in child birthing class.

Dinner with friends at Everybody's Pizza and a few good ole' cheap beers at home. Day is now done.

a little fais do-do

Anyone who is interested in some cajun music, a good time, or doing something they just dont normally do I suggest check out ROSIE LEDET AND THE ZYDECO PLAYBOYS. They'll be playing tonight, Sat., MARCH 10,$13-$15. Dance workshop: 7 p.m. Concert: 8 p.m. Knights of Columbus Post 660, 2620 Buford Highway. 404-273-2558. www.aczadance.org. I haven't been yet, but have been meaning to go and catch up on my roots a little more lately. I mean c'mon besides going to bingo, what else could you have going on?

Letter To A Friend

Dear L.,
I hate to say things that would influence your decision, especially right now. You just broke up with J. and I'm very glad because you were being treated like shit for the past 2 years now and you finally saw it for yourself and left. Now you're at the point where you have to find your own place, and you miss him and you miss what you see as the great times in your life, but I'm a little afraid you're about to get burned again. First I can't believe that you said you talked to him about where you should live. Second I can't believe you are hoping that his father's friend is maybe going to get you a deal on a place in town. And lastly, I can't believe that you are OK with the fact that J is going to get a place "near" you. What the fuck girl!!! Even if you become friends, which I find hard to believe because he is such an ass, and disrespects your family, how are you going to feel when you watch some strange girl, or even worse someone you thought was your friend, going up to his place and staying the night. And how are you going to handle when you start dating and he start stalking you and banging on your door when you have a date over? Trust me, I've seen it. Make a clean break. I know that you spent 2 years with him, and that's vested time, and you can't remember time before him. You have to get away, not be indebted to his family for helping you get a deal on a place, and live your life, not his. Please, PLEASE, open your eyes. You broke up with him for a reason and that reason is still there. Everyone loves you, and now one loves you for your relationship with him. I can't speak too badly of him, I never met him. Mainly because he didn't want to take the time to meet any of your friends. But he's not there for you, he's not being nice to help you out. He's keeping you in his space and in range. Make your move. It's yours for the taking.


i've written this letter because I can't come to make myself actually say it. I dont want to get in the way of someone making their own decisions.

*SSSSIIIIIIIGGGGGGHHHHHH*

So this is what a day off is. And to make it even better, this is what a day off with my wife is like. I totally forgot. We've been on opposite schedules almost since we found out we were pregnant. (good thing I got what I needed to do in for that). We went to breakfast at Crescent Moon Cafe, always good of course. I think they are starting to recognize us now. Then we went for a walk in the park. I brought a soccer ball and we kicked that around. Can't say we were all that physical for the fact that I'm not going to push her too far being that she pregnant and gets tired easily. Oh, by the way, not me and not my dogs in the picture. We have a cat that doesn't take to walking on a leash all that well. I'm assuming most cats don't. Anyway, we then decided to go have lunch at the closest pub there was. Prince of Wales. When I first moved to Atlanta, I actually lived one building over from Prince of Wales and for some reason was not there every day. I mean c'mon what a nice place to hang out in the summer, and at night, and anytime you want a drink. But I was young and stupid. . So we had some delicious fish and chips. I haven't had them in a while, and I know that having fish is a good source of nutrients for a growing baby, so hey, why not. It was so good, I wanted to take a picture of the cleaned of plate, but I was starting to get on people nerves taking pictures of my food. But anyway, we're home now, doing some nursery stuff and loving the time together. Hope I'm not being an ass and rubbing in the fact that I had the day off, but that's just the kind of ass I am.

a little hiatus

I may be gone for a few days. My wife and I have actually take a little vacation. Not going anywhere, but since we dont share the same weekend, and work complete opposite schedules, I'd like to see a little bit of her. So if I dont blog for 2 -3 days thats why

who works here?

This building has baffled me since I moved here and I see it when I go to the Braves games. Now I see it on my way to work. There are no windows that I can see. It doesn't show it in the picture, but it's like a mushroom. skinny on the bottom and then this box sits on top. It's like they bring prisoners from other countries here to interrogate them and never let them see sunlight.

Does anyone know what this building is?

Enough said I think

Finally

Well, I'm done painting the nursery, which is good because I've inhaled enough paint fumes to kill a small horse. You know like a pony? anyway, it looks pretty good, the reason I wasn't done yesterday is because I made the decision to repaint the ceiling, I figured if it's going to look nice, it's going to look nice all the way. Now I've just helped my wife into bed, I'm cooking a little lunch for her to take to work with her tomorrow (pork chops, black eyed peas, green beans and a salad, with strawberries on the side) and I'm going to have a few beers, flip past Dodgeball rerun on tv, and just relax. Talk at you tomorrow.

Damnit

In an attempt to put the second coat of paint on the room that will be the main domicile of the newest member of our family...... I ran out. I had bought this paint that was expensive (34 dollars a gallon) because I was told by my local friendly neighborhood contractor that "oh, you only need one coat with this paint, goes on smooth and covers really well". Well it does go on smooth, but I supposed if you are using lemon souffle to cover mustard seed yellow, you need more than one coat. And by the way, mustard seed yellow is a very pretty color and would have been just fine for the nursery, but it was a little scratched and worn and lemon souffle just seemed to be more soothing. So now after I painted the first time, noticed I could see just little inconsistencies, I wanted it to be perfect. No problem you say? So did I, after painting two of the walls, this is what I have left. The color doesn't really show well in this pic, it's a little more soft than you see here. But hey, what do you care......

So, am back from the store now. Waited patiently in line for the nice lady to take my order. I actually went to a paint store. I kind of have this thing where I'm trying to help out businesses that are near my house because maybe then things will prosper and Tucker will start to look a little nice, and not just strip malls and lumber yards, used car lots and gas stations. So annnnnyyyy way, I'm done painting the walls and they look nice, but now I'm looking and seeing that the ceiling could look nicer, so I guess tomorrow I'm off to buy some white, if I don't have enough. Never ends does it.

TBS In Buenes Aires

Read on a few websites today that TBS is opening, or more staffing up, their bureau in Latin America.

"Turner Broadcasting System has chosen Buenos Aires as its third international
base to tap Argentina's low costs, strong talent and production houses,"

So says Variety and Broadcast Engineering . Not that I really read that, but there was an interesting article about how they are going to transmit the content back to Atlanta without using the expensive landlines.

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long live the TED

When did it get so hard.

Ever have those days when you sit back and think about how life was when you were younger, like when you were in college. I didn't really seem to have a care in the world. I didn't have much money, and there were times, I had to borrow, beg and steal, but I sure seemed to enjoy life. I don't really miss the single life, because I have the most wonderful wife, and a daughter on the way, and maybe the on the way part is what is making me take stock. It never seemed like I would have to worry about things as much. Sure it's tough to pay the bills sometimes. You never feel like you're getting out of debt, which I'm not. But today I decided to do a financial round up to see if it was possible for my wife to not work once we had the baby. Nope. Nope. Nope. I realized that our bills add up to my paycheck. Barely anything left, and when I mean barely, I mean barely. Like, not enough for food for a week. So I'm left sitting at my desk, looking at our bills, that can't be lowered. We're not living extravagantly, we don't have so much stuff that we can just get rid of and things will be the same, we are living to our means. So, I sit here thinking to myself.... I can't provide for my family. I can barely provide for the two people in the family now, and soon I will have a third and still not be able to have the luxury of having my wife stay home and nurture our first born child. What kind of a life do we have? Someone told me long ago that you spend as much as you make. That it's hard for some to take the extra amount that they have and put it away. Well, I do save. But I do spend. And now, we have to continue the grind. I'm overjoyed about having a little baby joining me and my wife in this life, and I can not express the happiness that my wife brings me every time I look at her, I just wish I could give them everything they want, not just what they need. And I never thought it would be so hard to think of yourself as lesser of a man because you can't provide.

Just a general feeling of who cares

I'm not old enough to remember when Kennedy was shot, but I am old enough to remember when Reagan was shot. Him smiling from his hospital window while recovering, seeing those secret service agents pouncing, getting him in the car, driving off so fast you think they would have gotten in a wreck. When that happened, I remembered the urgency, and the feeling that , gosh, someone tried to kill our president... our president.. they guys who is in charge of the country. Well it seems as if people just don't really care that much anymore. Cheney was in Afghanistan, and a suicide bomber killed multiple people trying to get at him. Yet besides a few news stories, there wasn't any real "What the F*(#!!" feeling from us. No one protested, no one said, hey, lets get these guys that tried to kill the Vice president. I'm not making a political statement about supporting the President or his policies, or his staff. But you would think that people would sort of take the time out of their lives to say, what the f(*# how messed up is the world that people are desperately trying to kill high ranking officials of our government.

Free Food

So at my workplace, there are times when there is free food around. You know the days, a birthday, someone leaving, there's cake, cookies, sometimes pizza. What I'm wondering is why do we as humans flock to whereever there is free food. I mean, I love to save a buck, but does that mean I have have to eat as much pizza as I can in one sitting. Just seems odd to me that free food would bring out the gluttonous side of us.

speed bumps

Now I'm all for keeping people safe, and making sure that on certain stretches of road there are speed bumps, or humps to slow down the traffic. But in the parking deck at my work? c'mon people can barely go 5 miles an hour in there, especially since they always let the public park there for events. You have to go less than 2 mph to find a space so you can get to work on time. ugh.

Is it me?

Or does David Spade look an awful lot like Tommy Shaw?

getting old?

Sorry for the multiple posts, but it's been a while since I've written anything. I've been noticing lately, and I'm pretty sure it's because I'm 4 months away from having my first child, that I realize I'm not young anymore. I'm not really talking about the physical aspects, like that fact that I jog almost every day and I still can't get rid of my gut. Or that I'm losing so much of my hair, I am often mistaken for other bald people that I work with. But more that I notice that I shouldn't be doing this or that. I hear myself saying... now that wouldn't be a very smart move... in my head. I never really heard this before. I'm not saying that I was a complete dumb ass when I was younger, but I was much more adventurous. I would just do what seemed fun at the time, or what would get a good laugh, or impress a girl. Now I see myself thinking, "hey, you re not a kid anymore" Grant it, I'm only 32 years old, but this is why I'm bringing this up. I'm not old. But am I getting old?

What's the point

of having a cat? I have one. I saved it from the rescue center about 4 years ago. I got it because my then girlfriend (now wife) "had" to have it. So we got it, took great care of it. She is really pampered. The cat that is. But now, it just seems like the cat could really go without me being in the house. Besides it waking me up at 9am..... I work at night..... and puking up hairballs on the couch. what's the point???

Shorty's menu

Just incase you needed something for dinner...

Dinner Menu 2007

the start

So I thought of this idea for the blog last night when I woke up. I wasn't feeling well so I went to bed way too early... you know what I mean... and then I woke up around 10pm. Remembering that when we (my wife and I) were driving down Lawrenceville Hwy we saw that Shorty's Pizza had opened a new location. Now if you haven't gone to Shorty's pizza then you are missing out. Great great pizza, great salads, great beer, just all around a great place. Well they have a place on N. Druid Hills, and it's not too far, but far enough to make it a trip, but now that they have opened one on LWV hwy it's more convenient. So I was laying in bed remembering this last night and thought, 'I can't think of a blog I've seen about Tucker.'. Now I'm not saying that Tucker is like Atlanta, or Decatur, but I do now reside in Tucker, and there are some little quirks and secrets that are nice about it. SOOOoooooo I figured why not blog about it. Perhaps metroblogs will pick me up, or even though Tucker isn't a metropolis, maybe they will give us some credit.

And just as a side note, I just went to the website and realized that today is the grand opening of the Tucker location.