Conlon Family

Top Ten Favorite Things about Christmas

2008-12-21T04:30:00.000-08:00

8. Temple Square Lights

A tradition started in Oakland and continued in Salt Lake, the Conlon family loves to see Christmas Lights!
I have to give a nod to the Oakland Temple display in overall grandeur and awesomeness. Plus, it's not so stinking cold!

Top Ten Favorite Things about Christmas

2008-12-12T11:11:00.000-08:00

9. Roast Beast

It's become a tradition in the Conlon Household to make prime rib for Christmas Eve dinner. Luckily one of the grocery chains out here puts it on sale for $4.99 a pound the week before Christmas, making it affordable.

Top Ten Favorite Things about Christmas

2008-12-10T15:49:00.000-08:00

10. A Charlie Brown Christmas.

The snappy jazz numbers by the Vince Guaraldi Trio playing in the background, the witty lines (Out of all the Charlie Brown's in the world, you're the Charlie Browniest), the underlying tone of the real meaning of Christmas. All of these give this holiday special enough heft to be on my list, but the real reason it is on my list is because of the feelings associated with it.

This animation brings me the joy of the season, but also a longing for the past. It reminds me of many Christmases spent with relatives who have since passed on. Not necessarily specific memories, just the feelings associated with being a kid and spending evenings at my grandparents house waiting to open presents.

The song Linus and Lucy is one of my favorite songs EVER. I was so proud of Kelsey last year, when after months of practice she accomplished what I never could, to play both hands of the piano part at the same time.

Barack the Vote.

2008-11-05T12:00:00.000-08:00

Grant Park in Chicago is now the place of the two greatest events of my year.
First, it is where I asked April to marry me, during the July 4th fireworks show.
Second, it is was the site where 500,000 witnessed history as Barack Obama gave his inspired victory speech.
It was great to let the kids stay up to witness this historical event. they were excited to see this and I'm proud of my kids who defended Obama to their classmates when some of the lies (terrorist, Muslim) spread through the school.
Caleb spent the day making 'Vote for Obama' banners and hanging them in his window.

This country has a difficult road ahead, and I feel that Obama is a clean start to begin the work we have to do.

During this sometimes ugly campaign, he kept his head above the fray, even when people told him to go negative, and it has paid off.

More Wedding Pictures

2008-10-28T16:19:00.000-07:00

Here are the first ones from the wedding photographer.

Caleb at the Wedding

2008-10-23T08:52:00.000-07:00

My friend Mason snapped a few pics of Caleb who was feeling sassy!

A few wedding pics

2008-10-22T11:42:00.000-07:00

My cousin Mickey took some great shots of our wedding.
We are still waiting on the shots from Justin, the photographer.

You Snooze, You Lose

2008-10-09T15:31:00.001-07:00

They were better off not letting her talk!

2008-09-24T21:11:00.000-07:00

Right now I could debate Sarah Palin and win. Her inability to form a direct opinion on anything is frightening! Her folksy Fargo-speak can only get her so far.

She was asked at the end of this clip to give an example of Senator McCain's reform.
Her retort: I'll try to find some and bring 'em to ya.

Give me a break.

Kelsey's Quest for Fame

2008-09-24T15:08:00.002-07:00

Kelsey has a strong desire to be famous. Here is her 2nd brush with fame:

Kids say the darndest things - Part One

2008-09-24T11:17:00.000-07:00

At church I teach Sunday School to nine and ten-year-olds.

Last Sunday, we were discussing the Beatitudes and got to the verse, Blessed are those that mourn…

I asked the children if they knew what mourn meant, and they didn't. I gave an example of how we had to put our cat down a couple months ago. She was old and sick and even though we loved her, we had to do this. We miss her and wish she were around still, but we know she is in a better place. One girl in the class talked about having to put her dog down.

Then a boy in the back of the class says, "We had to put my grandma down."

I looked over at the co-teacher for help on what to say, but he was already covering his smile up with his hands.

Stunned and not knowing what to say, I replied, "yeah that's a good example." I turned to write something on the board.

Tina Fey

2008-09-22T09:55:00.000-07:00

Last night after the Emmys, talking about playing Sarah Palin on SNL:

"I want to be done playing this lady Nov. 5," she said. "So if anybody can help me be done playing this lady Nov. 5, that would be good for me."

Amen.

Tale of a Middle School Racist

2008-09-18T15:34:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I am amazed at the depths of idiocy in people nowadays.

We watched a movie recently called Idiocracy. It's a comedy, but parts of it were very sobering. In the beginning of the movie it talks about how intelligent people get together and have a family plan consisting of a couple children, if they have time in their careers. Conversely, dumb people seem to have no problem shacking up with multiple partners and spawning numerous children. It's the baby-daddy effect.

This is contributing to the dumbing down of America.

So Kelsey got home today and told me that her friend was in a fight today. Her friend is Muslim, and for religious reasons wears a head scarf. Apparently, another 7th grade girl took offense to this and demanded that she take it off. When the friend refused, the girl attacked her and was slapped with a two week suspension.

The reason I correlate this to the dumbing down of America is I can almost guarantee you that this attacking girl's parents are of the mindset that Muslims are terrorists and that if you are different there is something wrong with you. This kind of racial and religious hatred starts at home.

I have always tried to preach diversity to my kids, not by pointing out differences in people, but by not making it an issue. I'll never forget when Kelsey was in first grade and was trying to describe a child to me (who was African-American) by saying that he has skin color that is darker than ours. When the subject does come up of someone's differences I explain how we are all different in our own way and skin tone or religion are just a couple of ways we can be different.

Last year Kelsey's teacher was telling her class that a few years back, she sold her house to the 9/11 hijackers. She told them that they seemed nervous and they looked Middle-Eastern, you know, like the terrorists. I reminded Kelsey that we are half-Lebanese, and even though we don't look 'Middle Eastern' because somehow we inherited blue eyes and lighter hair, we have a lot in common with these people. I told her that if her teacher ever brings it up again to let me know, so I could have a talk with her. Either the teacher didn't bring it up or Kelsey was afraid I would get hostile with the teacher.

You know, like the terrorists would.

Suiting Up

2008-09-17T10:40:00.000-07:00

With the wedding date now less than a month away, I felt the urge to buy a suit.

I only owned one suit in my life. My grandmother insisted on going with me when I graduated from college to get a nice interview suit. I tried to explain that it isn't necessary in the Graphic Design community, but she wouldn't take no for an answer. I did wear it to my first interview and was told, as I suspected, designers don't wear suits.

This time I took recommendations from a couple people on where to go and what to do to get into a stylish, yet economical suit.

Option #1 from Marian who cuts my hair- go to Banana Republic, and open a credit account. You get 15% off and get a nice stylish suit.

Option #2 from a cooworker- go to Moda Italia downtown. They use the finest materials and make the suits from scratch.

Option #3 from family- Men's Wearhouse

First I went to BR on a lunch break and saw a great suit. I would have bought it then, but wanted to get April's approval. We went back later that night and she liked, but wanted to see what else was out there.

The next morning we went to Men's Wearhouse. NEVER AGAIN!

That place is where bad salesmen go at the end of their career. It reminded me of Glengarry Glen Ross. There were a bunch of guys sitting around and when we walked in, they pounced. They started measuring and pandering. None of the coats I tried on looked remotely fashionable, and they were fairly expensive.

We then drove downtown to Moda Italia. The vibe there was a complete reversal of MW. It was quiet and peaceful in there. We were surrounded by elegance. A little old man comes out and looks at me and says "42S". He then tried on some amazing coats. They fell on me like they were waiting just for me to pick them and take them home. The only problem was the price. I looked at the first coat's price tag, which was $900. The second was $1,200. The gentle suitmaker was understanding and asked me what I could spend on this suit. I told him $500. He said he wants to make this work, because he liked me and people of our height need to look out for each other. He said for $600 he could make me a nice one from scratch that I would absolutely love.

Problem is, $500 was actually a bit high for my budget, with wedding costs exceeding what I planned. I told him we would go to lunch and think about it.

We went to lunch at Trolley Square, which has another Banana Republic in the mall. We checked in to see if they have the suit in my size, to get another look at it. They had the coat, but not the pants. We were leaving the store, when a worker asked if he could help find my size. He did find it and I tried it on. While in the changing room, apparently April used her charm to become his new friend, and with it being Friends and Family Weekend, that included 40% off my new suit.

I am writing a note to the kind suitmaker at Moda Italia, thanking him for educating me on suits and trying to help me out.

Good for you, Betts

2008-09-15T12:44:00.001-07:00

If you don't watch Mad Men, you haven't been listening to me. It is the most well-written drama on television.

In last night's episode something happened that was a long time coming. Something I wish I had the kahunas to do about two years ago.

Glasses

2008-09-07T15:30:00.000-07:00

When I was in 3rd grade, I got my first pair of glasses. This was before they made glasses with spring-back pieces. Within a month, mine were bent out of shape, and busted with tape holding them together.

When Kelsey was in 3rd grade, she got her first pair of glasses.
When Karissa was in 3rd grade, she got her first pair of glasses.

Caleb, once again, is ahead of the curve!!

Kindergarten

2008-09-03T16:14:00.000-07:00

Big C started Kindergarten today! He was pretty excited. All his daycare pals were there too, so it wasn't so scary. I saw one other boy from our neighborhood, who has been able to stay at home up until this point, and he looked as though he were about to mess his pants.

Caleb is also pretty excited because he gets to ride the big daycare van the two blocks from school to daycare every day.

He got the strict disciplined teacher who comes off a little scary sometimes. I am pretty excited for this. The other teacher's rep is that she kind of sing-songy and lets the kids have fun. If Caleb is going to graduate from med school by age 12, a la Doogie Howser, he better hit the books.

LISTEN TO THIS

2008-08-29T22:12:00.000-07:00

Barenaked Ladies – Snacktime

Your favorite 90's band has created a kid album with catchy beats and clever lyrics your kids will laugh while not annoying the crap out of you (I'm talking about you, Barney)

I dare you to not get the Popcorn Song running through your dreams after hearing it just once.

BUY THIS BOOK

2008-08-28T16:52:00.001-07:00

My friend Don Kilpatrick illustrated a children's book, which his mother-in-law wrote.

It is called "You Can't Go to School Naked" and tells the tale of a boy who does indeed want to go to school naked. When I showed the book to my emerging reader, Caleb, he said each word of the title until he got to Naked. He then covered his mouth and laughed for about a minute and a half. It has since become THE bedtime book of choice for about a month.

It's prose is very clever and the illustrations remind me of old-school books from my youth.
If you don't buy it for your kids, i'll be sending out copies for Christmas to those of you lucky souls that I buy presents for.

Karissa's cupcake birthday

2008-08-22T14:37:00.001-07:00

Recipe for a crazy night

12 nine year old girls

48 cupcakes

4 containers of frosting

10 kinds of candy toppings

1 piñata

Invitation

2008-08-21T13:53:00.000-07:00

The Wedding Planning

2008-08-15T11:39:00.000-07:00

Seeing as we don't have trust funds set up to pay for a wedding, we are finding ourselves trying to balance the fine line of having a nice memorable day, while not going broke doing so.

With this in mind, we came to the decision to have a small family soiree. For the wedding itself, we are renting a room in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It is very nice, and the rental fee for just a wedding is very reasonable. It can actually hold quite a few people. It also has a nice view of the temple, which we hope to get sealed in the near future.

Our options for the reception are to either spend a lot of money for an open house and have limited food and maximum stress in planning, or to take the immediate family (which on April's side is about 40 people) to a nice dinner. After much debate between hurting people's feelings and hurting our pocketbooks, we decided to do first option. Seeing as this is the second wedding for both of us, we are foregoing the pomp and circumstance of a big celebration.

Now we are trying to figure out if it's proper etiquette to invite people to the wedding and share in the moment with us, but without the reception. Or do we just say that it's for family only. Any thoughts??

July

2008-08-06T06:39:00.000-07:00

I've gotten behind again on my blogging. This summer is flying by.

At the end of June, the kids and I flew to Chicago for a family reunion planned by my parents.

It was nice to see all my brothers and sisters in one place, and it meant a lot to my parents.

Here's Caleb and his dog 'Tuffy' enjoying the plane ride. Caleb had a lot of fun flying the friendly skies and was a non-stop chatterbox. This conflicted a bit with my usual plane ride ritual of catching up on my sleep, but I enjoyed sitting by him.

Here's a picture of my parents with almost all of their grandkids.

Josh, their oldest grandkid, was in Peru filming a documentary.

Deciding not torture April with 4 days of my family, I waited until after the reunion to fly her out to see what Chicago is all about.

We went to the Taste of Chicago on July 3. The crowd was estimated at over a million people, and it felt like it. It was at that romantic secluded spot that I asked April to marry me, and she accepted!

We are currently planning an October 15th wedding.

I'll keep you posted on the deets.

I love to ride my Bicycle

2008-06-08T17:49:00.001-07:00

Our summer goal for Caleb is to teach him how to ride a bike.

Day One was good. He was hesitant to get on the Schwinn Pixie that I had learned on 33 years before. It's in pretty good condition.

We're still working on the trust issue. He's under the impression that I'm going to let go at any moment crashing him to the ground. That's not until lesson 3 or maybe 4, though.

Where have I been?

2008-06-05T12:04:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I've been neglecting this blog lately, but it's been a busy month.

First, we participated in The Race for the Cure.

April's sister asked her to participate and we got the kids involved. We went with the Hubbard family, and had a great time.
After not running into April's sister, she asked her if she went, and her sister said no, they backed out at the last minute because she had too many things to do. April kindly asked her to let her know when she's going to do that again with something she had April be a part of.

A couple weeks ago we were driving home form Kelsey's band concert and passed this dog going the other way.

We turned around to chase down the dog. I got out of the car to try to grab it, but she was elusive. Finally I opened the car door and called for her. She ran right in the car and fell asleep on the seat. We drove all around the neighborhood trying to find the owner, but had no luck. The next day we put signs up in the area, and within 5 minutes the owner called worried sick about her. The kids were bummed, because they thought they'd get to keep the little furball.

Then April and I went on a little road trip to San Francisco. We stayed at her sisters in Stockton and had a couple days of relaxation. We hoped to swim, but it was unseasonably cool. Then we went to the city and took in the sights. After all that, we went to my old area in Concord and hung out with some of my really good friends from the past. My old church ward even had a pancake breakfast that weekend, so we got to see a lot of people I miss from the past. All in all it was a great trip that helped me realize how blessed I am to have such great friends and a special someone to share my life with.

The Oakland Temple

I think we are at Ghiradelli Square here

Love the wink!

April posing in front of my design work on display at the Metreon.

My Old House. Guess the new owner didn't like the beautiful magnolia tree in the front yard. :(

13.1

2008-04-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

I survived my first half-marathon.
My time was 2 hours 8 minutes. Not quite my goal of 2 hours, but my main goal was to finish. I can work on improving my time in future races.

The highlight was when I was about a mile and a half from the finish, and my sweet kids were there with April to cheer me on.
I stopped to give them hugs and thank them for coming when a funny thing happened. My legs thought the race was over, and as I started to finish the last mile and a half they begged me to give out.

So, a new rule for anyone wanting to cheer me on… don't let me stop unless you are at the finish line.

Knowing Bob may Induce Nightmares

2008-04-17T13:17:00.001-07:00

Most of you have been following my situation with April and the aunt and uncle she lives with.

For those of you that aren't up on it, April and I have been dating, but keeping it from the aunt and uncle because they are not cool with it. They say it's because my divorce is not final, but now I'm suspecting other reasons unknown to me.

April woke up this morning and stepped outside her room to go get a shower. Her aunt was waiting for her and said "Where have you been at night."

April told her that she'd been working on her high school class reunion stuff and last night went to the mall with her friend Karen and grabbed dinner.

Her aunt told her that she's been having nightmares about Bob (me) and she doesn't trust him (me) at all. She then expressed her opinion yet again that April should stay away from me. Keep in mind that I haven't spent more than 45 seconds talking to this aunt. It was mainly small talk at church and I never felt as though I left an impression like that.

April has become numb to all of this. I've met most of her immediately family by now and we all get along great, and she has their approval to hang out with me. This continued assault from the aunt is only going to distance April from her, who is now looking into renting a room in the area solely so she can be out of her control.

Punishment

2008-04-15T08:19:00.000-07:00

My cousin Mickey was in town last night. His company, Symantec, purchased a company out here, and he comes in town every now and then to do training or teach employees how to submit their will to Symantec and Norton Utilities.

Mickey and I took Caleb to pick up some carryout from my favorite Chinese place down the street. Before I left, I gave Kelsey and Karissa explicit instructions not to fight or get into trouble, I would be back in ten minutes.

When we returned with the food, I came through the garage door and had a nice view of the backyard, where my sweet angels were walking atop the 8 foot high fence/stucco wall that surrounds our property as though it were a balance beam.

I screamed at them for an embarrassingly long time and sent them to their rooms. Then I went to the kitchen to get dinner on the table. I looked out the kitchen window which has a slightly higher vantage point and noticed that my neighbors behind me were having a nice quiet family dinner outside on their patio, which was interrupted first by my daughters walking on the wall, then by my maniacal screaming.

I sent the girls to showers and bed directly after dinner. Of course they felt this was unfair; I felt it was not enough. If I would have pulled a stunt like that when I was a kid, the punishment would have involved a paddle that my mom bought at Six Flags.

What do you think? Is it enough punishment one night of going to bed early, and should I apologize to my neighbors and let them know to expect many more rants by me.

Caleb the Casanova

2008-04-13T21:53:00.001-07:00

I've known for some time that Caleb is a smooth talker with the ladies. He has four girlfriends at school now.
One of them has begun to call him to talk on the phone .

He's also working on stealing my girl April away from me. Here's two instances.

1. One evening at dinner I got a text from April. I was replying when caleb asked if I was saying 'I Love You'. I said I wasn't. He said "Give me the phone, because I'm going to tell her and send it."

2. A couple evenings later at dinner, April was over and Caleb was sitting on the opposite end of the table when he leans forward towards her and says, "April, you are soooooo cute."

We're hoping this doesn't become a problem. I'd hate to have a heart to heart talk with my 5 yr old to stay away from my lady. I don't mind if he plays the wingman role, he's pretty good at that too. I'm just not ready for him to become a rival.

Working from home

2008-03-31T09:28:00.000-07:00

Well, part of being single dad means that if I have a sick kid I have to take care of him/her AND work.
Luckily I have a full work rig a home, so it's an easy problem to solve.

Currently Caleb is my little sick guy. About 7 last night, he started having the dreaded diarrhea. I'm sure he would horrified if he knew I was letting everyone know about this.

Then later in the evening I was informed that Friday while at his mothers home, he was throwing up. That would have been something nice to know when he came over on Saturday. Might not have sent him to that birthday party in the afternoon.

Oh well, we're both a little tired, having been awakened every 2 hours by uncontrollable bowels. (I hope noone is eating while reading this.)

Currently he is able to help me work. Here's some pics of him coloring in my office.

My sister says that when he is able to start eating, give him the B.R.A.T. diet. Bananas, Rice, Apples, Toast. Seeing as he doesn't eat half those things, he'll be on the R.T. diet.

Does anyone out there, have any other tips??

Almost There

2008-03-25T13:10:00.000-07:00

My revised moving plan seems to have worked pretty well.
I spent 3 days moving loads to the new house with part 1 of the plan.
Saturday brought part 2; 4 friends and 2 pickups making 3 trips each.

Phase 3 was incredible. Movers showed up at 9:00 Monday morning, and by 10, the piano and the rest of my crap was in the new house.

There's still a couple car loads of knick-knacks in the old place, not to mention all the cleaning that needs to be done. I started cleaning on Monday with Kelsey and Karissa who had the day off. They lasted about an hour before saying they were exhausted.
After the cleaning, I need to tackle all the organizing in the new place, which has to be done before everything is out of control.
Number one priority is laundry, which is currently in heaps scattered around my bedroom.

Moving Week

2008-03-20T08:34:00.001-07:00

I closed on my new house on Tuesday, but due to some weird Utah law, I couldn't get in until Wednesday.

I had a moving plan, which was simply that I had no plan. I figured that since it is just down the street, I would take truckloads of stuff when I had time to. I don't have to be out of the rental until May 1st, and I simply was not ready to do a full on move all at once.

When I went to church last Sunday, however, everyone must have gotten word of my move and were insisting on helping. It's such a good feeling to know that there are people out there that want to help me out. I tried explain my plan of having no plan, but they seemed taken aback. So now I have devised a plan, which is actually a plan.

1. I am boxing and moving things with my Pilot. Instead of doing so at a leisurely pace like I had planned, I am taking 2 truckloads in the morning and 2-3 more in the evenings.

2. Saturday, after the kids Easter Egg Hunt, a group of guys are coming to help with some of the larger items that won't fit my Pilot.

3. On Monday, official movers are coming to transport the items that would cause back problems for my friends, such as the piano and library cabinet.

I guess this is a better plan, then my no plan plan. The kids won't be back until Sunday night, and by then I should have 90% of things moved, making the transition easier for them.

Balloon Frenzy

2008-03-14T13:51:00.000-07:00

So it's been a month since Caleb had his birthday party, and I still find balloons lurking around the house on a daily basis. Whenever I find one, I take a nice pair of scissors to it, sending to it's eternal doom. I think though, that these balloons have been breeding. We started out with a bakers dozen on his birthday, but I know I've killed at least thrice that amount. Plus, they've been able to find some clever hiding spots. Can someone tell me how to get rid of these pests once and for all.

Bad Boy Bob

2008-03-12T20:47:00.000-07:00

So this had been a great week for me. My friend April and I have become quite close and our relationship has become more than the friendship we were merely looking for.

She means a lot to me and I think the world of her. Her family seems to see things differently, though. I'm apparently a bad boy in their eyes and they want to have nothing to do with me.

Their concern is a somewhat valid one. You see my divorce, which has been going on for 18 months or so, is not completely final. It is a huge source of frustration, b/c it is completely out of my hands. I don't know how to speed up this process or know when an end date will be accomplished. I can't even get a hold of lawyer to get an answer out of her. Phone calls don't get returned, emails unread.

So April's aunt and uncle, who she has lived with since her divorce last year, pretty much forbade her from seeing me anymore. They see this situation as black and white. They told her that even though I don't consider myself married and there's no way in he** I'm ever going to even try to reconcile, I'm still married and spending time with April is a form of adultery.

As much as I would like to tell them to blow it where the sun don't shine, I can't. To a degree I see their point, but I wish they would also see ours. Also, I don't want to cause a rift between them and April, they are letting her stay there rent free until she gets back on her feet. I'd hate to be the cause of any animosity between them.

So here I'm stuck in this weird limbo. I've finally found someone who I enjoy spending time with who seems to really like me as well. I'm in the middle of this stupid divorce and there's no way I'm going to let my guard down and concede anything for myself or my children, because of this turn of events.

Does anyone have any advice or thoughts? I could use a clear head to tell me what they think.

Once

2008-03-07T08:39:00.000-08:00

As a lot of you know, I have been over the moon this year about the movie, ONCE.

It was a small independent film , made with 2 handycams over the course of 2 weeks, but it resonated with me.

The story is of 2 musicians who just broke up with their significant others and collaborate through song about their heartache. It came out at a time in my life when I was going through the same things they were in the film. I related to their raw emotion that came forth as they belted out these songs in the flick.

It's safe to say that the multiple listenings of the soundtrack helped me through the second half of 2007.

But a funny thing happened as I progressed through my own personal trials and brought myself to my current positive state of mind. I started to notice that the second half of the movie and soundtrack is filled with optimistic songs of hope and strength.
Now it's these songs that I find myself listening two again and again.

Yesterday, I was on a website related to the movie and saw that Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, the leads of the movie are going to be here in concert in SLC. This is so exciting. I bought the tickets for my friend April's birthday which is the week of the concert, but it is really more of a present for me.

If you haven't seen the movie yet, I encourage you to see it. It is Rated R and I know that's an issue for some, but it's mostly because they say the F word a bunch of times. But they say it with an Irish brogue so it sounds better than if it were some guy from Jersey.

If that's still an issue, give a listen to some of the songs on itunes. You'll thank me later.

It might seem like I'm lazy, but I'm just preoccupied

2008-02-29T16:51:00.000-08:00

Sorry, I haven't had time to post lately. Things have been hectic, but a good hectic. I usually have my wonderful children around Sun-Wed taking my full attention, and they have as usual. I then try to catch up the last half of the week on my work and cleaning. It's been really hard to that lately, though.

This past month I've happened upon a new friend who has taken up a lot of my free time. It's been great to have an adult around to talk to and share ideas and thoughts with. We've both been through a lot of the same experiences during the past year, so it's easy to share our frustration and anger with each other as well. Mostly though, we just like to hang out, sharing our favorite music or movies with one another.

While I'm still not quite ready to get back on the dating scene, this time spent with my new friend has helped me realize it's not as scary and difficult as I have been imaging it will be. I'm actually starting to look forward to it.

So while my house may look a bit more haggard and I get less sleep than I should, I am happier for it.
Besides I move in 3 weeks, so my house can look a little trashed, no?

I just bought a house!

2008-02-19T21:40:00.000-08:00

You would think that after being a home owner for 13 some-odd years, I'd be used to this house buying thing. But after being in a rental for 9 months, and now committing to large chunks of money being drawn out of my checking account for the next 30 years (I'll be 68, when it's paid off) I am suddenly extremely nervous. It doesn't help that interest rates decided to jump 3/4 of a point since last week. I'll try to post some pics of it later, but until then here's some pictures of Karissa and her catapult project from Science class.

Movie haiku- The Assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford

2008-02-14T21:39:00.001-08:00

Nervous, seedy men
Standing around for awhile
Then one kills Jesse

The jig is up

2008-02-14T21:30:00.000-08:00

So I was sitting with my friend at church on Sunday, when a Young Women leader sits on the other side of me and starts talking about Kelsey joining Young Women (which is something she'll do when she turns 12). Suddenly back on the other side of me I hear my friend (who I've been keeping my age under wraps from) say "How old are you?"

Blood draining from my face, I retort, "How old do you think I am?"

"Well, now that I know you have a twelve year old, I'm going to have to guess older than I thought. Hmmm…34"

I look back at her and tell her that she is way off, I am in fact, 38 years OLD.

Seemingly unfazed, she replies that she is old too.

"27 is not old," I conclude.

My little guy is not so little

2008-02-09T12:53:00.001-08:00

I can't believe how fast time as flown. Seems like just yesterday I was holding this little peanut in my arms at 3 AM. Now he's quite the little man.

Be the change

2008-02-06T09:56:00.000-08:00

Here's a quote from Barack Obama on Super-duper Tuesday last night.

Change will not come if you wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we have been waiting for. We are the change we seek.

Quiet Confidence

2008-01-30T21:23:00.000-08:00

This week has been extremely hectic. Work is at a peak; I'm working on a super-cool project which I can't talk about here. I've gotten a bit of freelance, too, which will help pay the bills.

I looked at a couple houses in the neighborhood to see what I can afford when my lease is up. I was satisfied with the results.

My kids are doing great in school. We've instituted some nightly traditions which they really enjoy. The first one is fruit of the night, where we try an exotic fruit each evening. The Asian Pear was a huge hit, even Caleb ate some, which is a miracle. The second is video gaming. We spend about half an hour a night playing Wii or Guitar Hero as a family, cheering each other on.

I finally beat my cousin, Tim in Scrabble on Facebook. My other cousin Mickey is coming out to visit in a couple weeks.

I've stepped up my workouts, gained a workout partner, and went back to my overly regimented diet of brown rice and beans, all of which helped me lose 8 pounds this month.

Spiritually, I've been attending a Church Class one night a week, which has me really thinking more about that sort of thing than I ever have before.

I think my new haircut is pretty sweet.

Not to brag, but I guess my point is that I'm pretty happy with what I've been able to accomplish lately.

That all could change instantly, but as for now, life is good!

Sundancing

2008-01-28T02:28:00.000-08:00

So after living here for three years, I finally saw my first Sundance movie. Unfortunately, it wasn't a memorable one. It was called Guitar. It was about a girl who was told she had inoperable throat cancer, gets fired from her job, and dumped by her boyfriend all in one day. She's told she has a month to live and she should get her affairs in order.

It's an interesting concept. What would you do if you were told you had a month to live. How would you spend those last 30 days. Well, she decided the thing to do would be to rent a penthouse apartment in Manhattan, rack up insurmountable credit card debt and have sex with whoever came to her door. So for an hour of the movie she ordered from high-priced catalogs and then got friendly with the delivery guy. Meanwhile, the time clock in my head kept waiting for her to get weak and die. But it didn't happen. Somehow this behavior magically made the tumor disappear.

So then my mind is left wondering how is she going to cope with now being evicted from her apartment, having this crazy credit card debt and no job.

Well the solution was easy in the movie. She went into the park playing her guitar. A band found her and asked her to join. She was now a rock and roll star.

Afterwards the director had a Q+A where she talked about how this story was an important one to tell, and how it was her mission to get the movie made. I'm sorry but telling the courageous story of a cancer victims last month would be more memorable it actually was courageous and not selfish and just plain ridiculous.

Their was one redeeming thing about the movie. I think I saw Robert Redford in the audience.

..............

So, I wish I had more info on the thing I've been so elusive about, but I don't. So far, it's been bad timing. There's certain things in my life that need to be completely put to bed (pun intended) before I can even attempt to start anew. I just hope that this opportunity is still available at the time I can finally try to start over.

Back in the Swing of Things

2008-01-20T20:04:00.000-08:00

The above title is actually fitting for a couple of reasons.

Last week I mentioned my sinuses were aching. Well, at that time, I hadn't fully understood the meaning of pain. I think I'm a big boy and have a pretty high threshold for pain, but on Thursday when I woke up and couldn't put on my glasses because my nose and forehead had swollen up to clownlike proportions, well I discovered I had a new threshold. Finally it was time to go to the doctor. He wasn't so amused with my facial anomaly, but gave me a prescription for some military-strength Mucinex. It seemed to help and by the end of the day I was able to go to class with my pal Brandon. At dinner, Brandon felt the need to tell the whole table where Mucinex elects to dispose of the mucus. Thanks again for that visual, Brando. Yuck.

Anyway, I was relieved to have my nose return to it's normal XL today, instead of the XXXL of the previous week. I was worried that Sunday would arrive and I'd still be disfigured. The reason for my nervousness is the other reason that the above headline is apropos. I can't really say too much, without jinxing or spoiling the events of the day, but I'll just say that things are looking up. Sorry, I'm sure I'll be able to tell more later in the week.

Cloverfield Review Haiku

2008-01-18T22:36:00.000-08:00

A Scary Monster
A Shaky Handheld Camera
A Well-earned Headache

The Partridge Family

2008-01-13T21:31:00.000-08:00

I challenge any of you and your families to take on the Conlons in Guitar Hero, SingStar or Rock Band. We have got the videogame fake band genre down!!!

Sinus Schminus

2008-01-12T21:43:00.000-08:00

I have been suffering through most of this week with a crazy sinus infection. It started on Wednesday, forming in the pink area of the illustration. A funny thing happened on Thursday, though, as it travelled into my jaw. For a time I thought I should call my dentist, thinking it was a cavity, but I remembered I did that about 5 years ago and found out it was a sinus infection.

Today, it disappeared for awhile, leaving me to think I was free of the torture, but it seems to have resurfaced this evening right smack behind my right eyeball.

I'm going to dope myself up again, hoping it will go away for reals tomorrow.

Movie Haikus

2008-01-04T23:26:00.001-08:00

In honor of seeing FOUR movies this week, I have chosen to write haikus detailing my experiences.

Enchanted- Which I saw with my children on New Years Day

Cute Amy Adams
The second row killed my neck
Rewatchable flick.

Rock Hard- The Dewey Cox Story - Which I saw with Mason and his brother Kirk

The Infectious songs
Keep running through my noggin
Didn't need to see Junk.

I am Legend- Which I saw with John and Vern

The Fresh Prince can act
CGI zombies cannot
Every other seat.

Juno - Which I saw with Amber, Melissa and Rachel
Reunion of sorts
Arrested Development
Loved the Dialogue

2007 Did Not Suck So Much!

2007-12-31T06:03:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-22T20:13:00.001-08:00

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…

2007-12-14T19:33:00.000-08:00

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

Cereal Bowl Warnings!

2007-12-14T19:16:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-11T07:38:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-08T05:21:00.001-08:00

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

2007-11-26T09:32:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-20T21:45:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-17T21:21:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-15T06:13:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-14T21:29:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-13T21:39:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-13T09:00:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-11T21:35:00.000-08:00

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).