2007 Did Not Suck So Much!

It's New Years Eve already. 2007 has come and almost gone. I wish I could say the year has flown by, but in many ways it has been agonizingly long and drawn out. It started with uncertainty and fear, quickly gave me a harsh dose of reality, and left me dazed, battered and beaten. Then it did something strange. As I was laying there down for the count, 2007 picked me up off the mat, taught me that I am stronger than I thought, and left me feeling more confident and assured than I possibly ever have.

A lot of strength and confidence came from having the courage to say enough is enough with the past. At the end of 2006 and the beginning of 2007, I was a wreck. The daily barrage of lies and deception and mistrusts that I was dealing with had worn me down. I was consumed with doubt and worries that I later found out I had no control over. A lot of that newfound strength that came to me in '07 came from you, my friends and family. You listened to me when I had to get things off my chest. You gave me ideas of things to do with my kids to help them enjoy life. You let me know that I have a lot of people I can rely on to help me. You helped me grow in my faith and realize that there is a plan, and although I am being tested more than I ever thought, I am a stronger person for it.

As I entered '07, I remember telling a cooworker how I just wanted to fast forward through 2007, because it was going to suck so bad. Now I can't imagine not going through this. It did suck in many ways. There are so many things that happened this year, that even now when I think about them, leaves me feeling empty and alone, but I know it's behind me.

As I look forward to '08, I am hopeful at all the new experiences I will have, that I would have otherwise missed.

Thank You!

Christmas Threeve

So the kids and I got thinking that tomorrow is Christmas Eve Eve, which makes today Christmas Eve Eve Eve.
That's a mouthful to say, so we decided to shorten and it is to become henceforth known in the Conlon Household as CHRISTMAS THREEVE!

We spent Christmas Threeve by shopping for our Christmas Eve Dinner, and then skating with our dear friends, the Hubbards, who moved here from our neighborhood in California this year. The skating was great because unbeknowst to us, the skating rink was having a free skate with Santa day, with free hot cocoa and donuts. Plus, Caleb actually made it one time around the rink before quitting.

But now we are left wondering, with today being now known as Christmas Threeve, should we come up with something for Christmas Eve Eve, or is that cool enough on it's own?

Happiness is…

seeing joy in your children's eyes. Even if they both have four eyes.

Cereal Bowl Warnings!

So I was at the grocery store yesterday and saw these cheap Kellogg's cereal bowls for 25 cents each. I knew they were cheap but didn't think they were THIS cheap.They came with the following warning:
Appropriate for Ages 8+
WARNING!
Always use this product with adult supervision. Before each use, inspect the product. Throw away at the first sign of damage or weakness. This product may break if dropped.
WASH THOROUGHLY BEFORE USE.

Wow. What could possibly be wrong with these bowls to warrant this kind of legal-ese? My coworkers and I have a hunch that while underneath their plastic laminate exterior is a brightly-colored image filled with lead paint and/or acid.

What do you think? Should I expose my children to these hazardous cereal bowls?

Caleb

So last night while the kids and I were folding laundry and watching Deal or no Deal (not my choice) Caleb fell asleep on my bed. He looked so cute that I just left him there. BIG MISTAKE. That boy is a sleep kicker, and goes straight for the jewels. I woke up at least a half dozen times in pain. I was too tired, however, to get out of bed and move him into his bed. Then this morning at breakfast he has the nerve to tell me he couldn't sleep because my cold-induced snoring kept him up all night. Silly little boy.

Going Solo

My work Christmas party is tonight and it's the first time I'm going without a person to round out the "Bob Conlon and Guest" invite. At first, I was really concerned about this. Many ideas ran through my head. Should I fly my mom in and bring her like Jeremy Piven at an awards show? Should I ask that girl out from the ward before I really should? Should I bring my friend who is so uncomfortable in his heterosexuality that when we go to the movies he leaves a chair space between us.

Nah.

I'm just going to go and enjoy myself. It's so much more fun to just go and socialize and talk and not have to worry about someone else. Heck, last year I was the outcast of the party BECAUSE of who I brought, and when that 'who' would go out to smoke and make phone calls, is when I really had fun.

Thanksgiving Survival

We survived Thanksgiving!

I went to Portland and celebrated with Mickey, Meaghan and Aunt Jeanne and their families. It was a lot of fun. I even has Mick cart me around Friday morning to get some bargain deals and save me a ton of cash.

I got home late Friday, picked up the kids Saturday Morning and then we shopped for our Lebanese Feast on Sunday. We had a family form church over. they have 2 daughters and they all played High School Musical: The DVD game. It was nice to have people over for dinner again. It was something we used to do all the time and it felt good.

Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner

The checkout ladies at the local supermarket always seem to dispense the mindless chit-chat. Last night one rubbed me the wrong way. I was working from home and had a nice dinner planned. Then, I got a call from work and had to come in to do a couple things. Realizing that I wouldn't have time to come home and make dinner before the kids stomachs caved in, I went to plan B.

Plan B, involved picking up an 8-piece bucket of chicken from the supermarket, and serving it with the leftover Yukon Gold mashed potatoes I served the day before with my roast. Also, a nice salad would be served. Karissa is a hug fan of "chicken on the bone" and can shred a drumstick cleaner than a starving pirahna.

I get the chicken and get to the front of the checkout line, where the lady looks at me and says:
"Looks like it's your night to cook"

So many things I thought about saying back to her:
"Why is that? Do you assume that because I'm a man, I can't cook?"
"You have no idea the hell I go through on a daily basis!"
"Don't judge"
"I see the dental plan here is horrible or you'd have fixed those teeth"

But I said none of those, I just nodded and swiped my card.

Taking joy in children's joy

As a parent, sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do, because your children enjoy it. Today was one of those days. I took the my kids to see High School Musical On Ice. Sure it was two hours I'll never get back, and could think of many dozen different ways I could have spent the day, if I were selfish. But going there, and seeing the pure joy in their eyes, when their favorite TV stars hit the ice was enough to make up for the time lost.

U/O

Since moving here almost three years ago, I've been looking for signs of life here in the valley. Salt Lake is not really a small town, yet not really a big city. The thing that really bugged me for a while is that a lot of bigger chains, whether they be restaurants or clothing or concerts, don't have Salt Lake as a home. That has changed a bit in the past month, when The Cheesecake Factory and now Urban Outfitters have opened.

I'm not big in waiting in line, but Amber wanted to and I agreed to wait for the U/O to open their doors this morning. We get a free tote or something.

I just wish Giordano's Pizza would hurry up and open out here.

Foofa

So at the office the past couple days, we've had models coming to videotape them performing karaoke in order to be potential cover models for PlayStation SingStar. Usually Emily takes care of videotaping them and then I edit down their video to a 45 second clip for Sony. A model stopped in while Emily was at lunch, so I went ahead and did the taping. While talking to this girl, she mentioned that she worked on a childrens TV show. Being hip to the childrens TV scene ever since I became a Sesame Street baby, I asked which one. She said Yo Gabba Gabba, and then she found herself inundated with a series of questions about Caleb's favorite show!

I was so excited to be talking to a girl who wears a this pink costume for a living and dances and sings in it, that I think I scared myself. It was fascinating to hear about the show which was created by her brothers and that basically feels like H.R. Puffenstuff on an acid trip.

For the record, I'm rooting for her to get the SingStar gig, maybe I can get Caleb an elusive Yo Gabba Gabba tee shirt out of it.

Caleb

Isn't this little guy just the cutest. For the record, ladies, he's taken. He currently has two girlfriends, Savannah and Nicole. He broke up with them last week, but told me on Monday, "Don't worry Dad, we are back together again."

The boy is getting more play than his old man.

Kids are anything but predictable

So yesterday, we had a great day. Kelsey and Karissa had a ton of homework, but did it all without complaining. I have set up the office as a lounge, with comfy chairs to relax in while working on homework. They also like using the big white board to figure out problems. Kelsey played with her friends, while Karissa worked on her secret art project. Caleb cut paper into a million little pieces. We had a nice dinner, relaxed and watched a little TV and went to bed.

So why in the heck did they wake up this morning ready to kill each other? The first 2 hours of my day were spent trying to seperate kids from fighting and then myself getting thrown into the middle of the fights. Luckily we sorted it out before school, but I'm a bit off kilter from the debacle.

First Blog

Well, here's my third attempt at starting a blog.

I started the first one about three years ago, when everything was going dandy in my life. So my entries were really boring, like how can I program my TiVo and crap like that.

The second attempt was about a year ago at the advice of my therapist, while I was angry and bitter, so that's probably not best for the masses to read.

I'm planning for this one to be an update on what is happening in mine and the kids life. It will probably have everyday mundane things with a semi-jaded edge. Who knows, maybe down the road there will be tales of romance. (That's intended to be a joke, but probably came off semi-jaded).