Poop

Last night I spy this funny-colored popsicle stick on the living room floor and I picked it up to deposit it in la basura. The bottom half looked like a normal popsicle stick, but the upper half was rough; pink on one side, burgundy on the other. Turns out the "popsicle stick" was actually an emery board, and my dearest Noah had somehow eaten the coating off of half of the thing. That might explain what happened next...

The boys often bathe together. While they were in the tub we hear these frantic pleas from Nick: "Daddy! Daddy! OH NOOOOOOO!" The M.R.S. and I look at each other to see who's going to go upstairs to see what's happened this time (usually it's Noah getting out of the tub to run around naked, or one of the boys has soap in his eyes), and her look silently informs me that indeed, Daddy will be the responder to the SOS. I bound up the stairs in a couple of steps and burst into the bathroom. Lucky me! My boy Noah had indeed gotten out of the tub - but not to run around... Not at all. Apparently something he ate didn't agree with him (I wonder what that could be?) and he had to go. Right there on the floor. And in the tub. Nick's frantic yelling had frightened him, so now he's crying. My pleas for help fell on deaf ears ("They asked for you, Daddy!"), so I get the boys out of the tub, tidy Noah up, put on my Haz-Mat suit, and decontaminate the lavatory. I don't think I've ever seen two boys more happy to see Daddy break out the Dow with Scrubbing Bubbles. Ah, the joys of child-rearing. Maybe it's time to start the potty training.

Nick, of course, didn't recall doing the same exact thing to Jalen when they were in the tub together 5 years ago.

New Job

I just started a new job and so far it's working out nicely (other than the fact I'm fighting sleep). I'm working part-time in my University's Academic Success Center for student/athletes as a study hall monitor. Next semester I'll probably be a tutor here, so I can see what type of teacher I am and whether I like it enough to make a career out of it. Maybe I can help keep some future #1 pick in the NFL draft eligible, and he'll reward me with a phat check after he signs his contract. (A man can dream, right?) I'll still be working Sundays at the restaurant, and hopefully now we'll have more money than month, as opposed to the way it is now. The good thing about this job is that I can study while working, as Noah seems to resent my efforts to do so at home. Annette - it's a great job for a grad student if you have the time.

In the tradition of Banjo Ben I'm attempting to schedule my qualifying exams. I'd like to take them beginning in December, but it'll probably be January before I'm able to start due to Finals and Christmas. We'll see how things go. If I pass those, then it's just a matter of finishing my research project. Then all you mere mortals can kneel before me and Prayers are welcomed.

Decisions, decisions

I've been thinking about decisions. It's amazing how seemingly innocuous decisions have shaped my life. For example, I almost transferred to Francis Marion University in the midst of my 5.5 year hiatus from Clemson. I didn't transfer though, and my life is profoundly different because of that decision; for example, I never would've met the M.R.S. had I transferred. Also, my relationship with my then 2-year-old son would probably be in much worse shape. I wonder where I'd be if I'd taken my then-advisor's recommendation to get out of mechanical engineering because I didn't like it. I wonder where I'd be if I'd followed one of my teacher's suggestions to apply to faraway schools like MIT and Stanford. Where would I be if I'd never picked up that one Plain Truth magazine that I found somewhere at my Grandma's when I was a teen? How would I be different if I hadn't made the conscious decision to "dumb down" in high school & college? What if I hadn't taken the initiative to call up this little green-eyed beauty I'd spotted at my job? (So what if we hadn't met and I had to do some detective work and find out her name and do some more detective work to get her phone number and then had to distinguish myself from the other Joes at the job since she had no clue who I was?) What if I hadn't drank those beers at the Homecoming dance my Junior year at Clio High? Or what if I'd gotten sick after that first time? Hmmm... What decision did I make today that's still going to be reverberating in my life in 5-10 years? I guess I'll know in five years.

Watch your mouth, Kramer.

Kramer of "Seinfeld" fame has gotten himself into a little hot water. Apparently he let a couple of African-American hecklers get under his skin and let loose with a barrage of racial epithets. I wonder if he'll get the Mel Gibson treatment.

States I've Driven to/Through

I think that's 20.

How could I forget?

We saw the baby Tuesday! She's gonna have a big head -if it is a she. Then again, Nick KNOWS it's a she, so I guess that's settled.

Mutual of Omaha presents...

Here we find the normally rough-and-tumble alpha male lovingly teaching his offspring how to survive on its own. The proud poppa is instructing the youngling in the proper manner of picking a carcass clean...

Freefall

Ever feel like you're in a state of freefall and your parachute won't open? It's not a good feeling, I tell ya. Grad school - check that - my particular graduate experience has been horrible for the last two years. I'm REALLY almost at the point of just walking away and getting a job. I feel like a quitter of course, but I've almost convinced myself that being a quitter is something I can live with. Almost. I'm supposed to have so much more done by now. I'm supposed to have a deep understanding of the things I have done. So much for that.

Perhaps I'll pull myself back from the ledge if Michigan can beat OSU and Florida State can upset the mighty Gators next week.

I had to go to court yesterday to clear up a misunderstanding. In short, I had to show why I shouldn't be jailed for being in contempt of court for not paying child support. Good thing I actually was paying it all along. Turns out that the original CS order was issued in Pickens county, and didn't automatically switch to Oconee county when the new order was issued in September. I went in pretty confident, but then I saw the guy in front of me get sentenced to 6 months. The judge was a little brusque with me at first too, until he realized that I wasn't giving him a sob story about not having the money. When I whipped out my payment history printout I think the judge smiled. After that things went smoothly and quickly. I do plan to check with Pickens county to make sure that the transfer did indeed go through, and that I won't be hauled off from my job in handcuffs and disgrace.

Some sweet tea would be good right now. I think I'll go search the internet and find me a sermonette now. I'm sure someone has one posted. One that will fit in a 10-12 minute window. lol

Cheez!

Guess who's not afraid of the camera?

It's gonna be in the 70s again tomorrow!!!

Donald Rumsfeld just resigned. I must say I didn't see that coming. He struck me as being one to hold on to the bitter end; one from whose fingers power and position must be pried only after they were cold and dead. I wonder if maybe he didn't get a visit from some pipe-wielding brothas who strongly recommended he spend more time with his family post-haste. Those politicos - I'll never figure 'em out. These next two years promise to be interesting for the President.

I need a change of scenery. For some reason I've been thinking about Montana or Wyoming or South Dakota. Wait - it gets cold in those places, doesn't it? Perhaps Australia would be nice for a few years. They do have some cotton research programmes in place down there. Wait - they have like, nine of the ten most poisonous animals in the world, don't they?

I refuse to acknowledge that the Cowboys lost to the Redskins Sunday. Nope. Never happened. Oh, and please pray for my brother. Since Clemson lost their first conference game to Boston College, he's been waiting for Wake Forest to knock BC off and propel Clemson into first place in their division of the ACC. Well Wake held up their end of the bargain; Clemson, alas did not. Those two consecutive losses after being ranked in the top ten were definitely not included in his calculations. Goodbye BCS, hello lower-tier bowl game in December. Just when Coach Bowden had finally gotten off the hot seat...