Again??

I find myself a bit confused lately.  You see, I’m beginning to think I may actually like little kids.

Trust me, I’m more shocked at this than any of you are.  Twice this year, I’ve had the opportunity to hang out with friends or relatives that have small kids.  The first was when I visited my cousin Jenny and her crew in June, which I’ve written about before.  The second was last weekend visiting Geoff & Lee, with their two kids Savannah & Parker.  Once again, I had fun.

Heaven knows I’m not used to having kids climb on me.  Heck, I’m not even used to having kids around me.  Yet it seems like they take a liking to me.  Much like I did with Corin, I feel like I ended up with a new friend in Savannah.  We raced in the pool.  I let her stand on my shoulders and jump into the pool.  I would push her and her raft down to the deep end and she’d swim right back at me.  She’d grab a hold of my arm and I’d lift her out of the pool (and I’m not that strong).  I’d give her a push to help her swim down to the other end without taking a breath.  After a while, one of us was getting a little tired, so I finally got out.

But she didn’t just play.  She helped to set the table for dinner.  And after dinner, she wanted to play some more before it was time for her to go to bed.  When I finally got up on Sunday morning, she was there to greet me (which I wasn’t quite prepared for).  After breakfast, we played Uno (the Princess version), Old Maid, and Go Fish.

I could have sworn that little kids would avoid me like the plague.  This has not proven to be the case.  Quite the opposite, they’ve demonstrated no fear of me whatsoever.

How is it that I can be intimidating to adults, but kids between the ages of 4 and 7 find me huggable?  How is it that a person who generally would prefer to be by himself has enjoyed his experiences with people who are 1/9th to 1/5th of my age?

I think there’s a couple things in play here.  First, both Corin and Savannah were VERY well behaved.  When they were told to do something by either parent, they did it.  Second, they also both seemed to enjoy having a new audience.

I also don’t want anyone to get the impression that I fully understand what’s involved in having kids.  I know it’s a lot of work and requires a lot of energy.  My experience so far has been closer to playing uncle than anything.  I get to have fun and go home.  But this has been a far different experience than I would have expected.

I will say this whole thing has probably been good for me.  It’s good to get out of your routine every now and then.

"Hi Everybody!"

Well, as coincidences would have it, Ann wanted something to write about, and today I got something.

See, it’s easy if you’re a parent.  Inevitably, the toddler-like creatures inhabiting your home (and demanding to be changed and fed, though not necessarily bathed) do something funny/cute/scary/surprising/insane, and you relay it to the blogging world.  Or you cheat like Ann and primarily take pictures.

But for those of us more comfortable living without the interference of other humans or pets, we have to rely on outside forces beyond our control.  And for those of us extra-oblivious to our surroundings, it takes something that really shakes you out of your self-imposed tunnel vision.

One of my coworkers, Carol (who also regularly reads this), came over to drop some distributions off with the people that sit around me.  As she made her way into the area, we were greeted with a hearty, “Hi, everybody!”  This happens nearly daily, which isn’t the issue.  Today, however, there was something about the cadence in which she said this that struck a chord.  I recognized it, but I couldn’t remember where.  Then it hit me.  It was a character on The Simpsons.  My next problem was trying to remember which one.

You know, the internet is a wonderful thing, and search engines certainly come in handy.  So from my Yahoo home page, I search for “The Simpsons characters”.  And as would surprise absolutely no one, our friends at Wikipedia had a solution for me.

So I start off with a complete list, or at least a near complete list of characters.  This was a bit of a diversion, learning things like Apu’s last name is Nahasapeemapetilon (he runs the Kwik-E-Mart) as well as the impressive list of pets the Simpsons have had.  But that wasn’t helping me identify the character who said it.

So I started looking through, trying to recall who it was that said that magic phrase.  After looking at a few, I started to think it was Barney Gumble, but quickly realized that wasn’t it.  So after a few more, I had the character:  Dr. Nick Riviera.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not comparing Carol to Dr. Nick.  But there was something about the cadence today that just made that connection click.

Anyway, I encourage you to get a few laughs by looking at some of the quotes and detailed background information on the Simpsons.  

Stuff on a Saturday

Some random thoughts on a lazy Saturday afternoon:

1. I find myself watching the Sleuth network, but not for the reasons you may think.  Sure, they have reruns of Miami Vice, which can be fun from time to time, but they also have Knight Rider.  Now, as my brother will attest, I’m not a fan of the show.  However, that doesn’t mean I don’t find some of the storylines and poor acting utterly hilarious.  This is so bad, in fact, that I’m considering recording an episode or two each week just so I have something funny to write about.  Sorry, Chad, this show’s going DOWN.


2. Since I haven’t gotten any offers to be introduced to Monica Seles, I’ll throw out another option:  Shandi Finnessey.  Don’t know who she is?  One hint:  GSN.


3. I still think the Tigers won’t win the AL Central.


4. Still no new news on the job front.   I know there’s a meeting going on at TNG, but I don’t know what all they’re working on.  Outside of that, I’m just keeping my ears open.


5. Dinner tonight will be lasagna, the microwave variety.  What, you think I was going to MAKE it myself?


6. Still looking forward to Chad’s wedding in a few weeks.  I’ve gotten measured for the tux already.  Just need to nail down the lodging arrangements in GR.


7. The maintenance guy is finally supposed to be looking at my roof.  I haven’t heard or seen him yet, so we’ll see what happens.

Y’all have a good weekend.

Labor Day Weekend

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m looking forward to this holiday weekend.  Sure, I’ve got a couple things to do, but for the most part, I can relax.  I completed updating the value of my baseball card collection yesterday, so I should be able to play a few games of my ’75 replay, get some reading done, watch some college football and tennis, and who knows what else.  The Yankees host Minnesota, so I’m sure I’ll watch a couple of those games as well.  And of course, there’s the Saturday morning shopping and church on Sunday.

Not much else going on.  Well, that’s not quite true.  I woke up yesterday morning to what I swear was a dripping sound above my bed.  I don’t see any water spots, but the sound was.  Yes, it was raining hard, but this wasn’t coming from outside.  I called the property management company, and they’re supposed to be sending someone to take a look.  I’ll post the results as soon as I have them.

Other than that, y’all have a good weekend.