At-Home-GuitBox-Daddy

June 10 2010 you say? It's 2011.

2011-08-18T06:11:00.000-07:00

Blog blogiddy blog. I have a blog but apparently forgot. So I came in today and updated the ages of my kids on the blog. I remembered the blog. Im posting an update on the blog and need to write a blog about the things that I write about on the blog. Pretty soon, i'l post some actually real life stuff on the blog. Stay Tuned.
Blog

Summer.......yes........sweet summer......

2010-06-01T05:57:00.000-07:00

I vowed to not complain about the heat this summer. I have not complained about the heat so far, I have been outside sitting and working and splashing. After the soul sucking winter we just barely made it through, I will never complain about summer heat again while I live in Michigan. The dismal, lack of sun, slushy, dank, blow-your-head-off Michigan winter. Man, it was a long one..... but enough! summer is here and we are gearing up for summer fun. We even created the Hedges family "summer box O' fun" to help in our adventure. We found a small box and covered it with scraps of paper, then covered that in stickers and marker and whatever else we could find. The kids had fun making the box o' fun. (its all about the fun!) I then cut a whole in the top of the box so that a tiny hand could fit in the box of fun. (its all very high tech, you see). Azsure and I then thought of a bunch of fun stuff and wrote it all down on little slips of paper of different colors. pink for general free fun stuff like disc golf, special parks, and downtown adventures, blue for rainy day stuff, like the children's museum, movies, and other inside stuff, then Green for stuff that costs money like: mini golf, splash pads, the zoo, and whatever else that we have to pay for. The kids then get to pick out a random colored slip of paper and we do whatever is on it. Today, Ephram go to pull the first card and he pulled out the "downtown, picture taking alphabet adventure" so we are going to go to Grand Rapids and take picture of all the letters of the alphabet on the buildings. sounds like fun. We shall see. Sometimes the kids are afraid of loud sirens and there are always a lot of ambulances going to the numerous medical centers downtown. Wish us luck.
Ephram is heading to camp with Mimi and Grandpa in Minnesota and will meet Cousin Madeline and Kristin and Randy up there too. He is very excited. While I am a little worried about him being gone for a week, Soijer and I will get to have some Daddy- Daughter time which should be fun. well, the fog is burning off, and my coffee is about gone, so it is time to get this summer o' fun started.
till next time,
out
AHGD

Is this what you do all day?

2010-05-21T07:14:00.000-07:00

The other day, my wife was home with us from work and generally not feeling well. After she had watched both kids and me, with a big smile, wrestling for almost a half hour, she said "Is this what you do all day?" My reply: "pretty much". She smiled again.....

Yes, that is what I do all day. I try to clean and do some general things around the house to keep it in order as well as make a few phone calls but I like to wrestle with my kids. I also like to go to the park and to the zoo and make forts and watch Curious George and have tea parties and play hide and seek and color and make paper airplanes and give teddy bears checkups. I also like to create great death defying stunts where hot wheels cars ramp over stuffed bunnies and build stuff with blocks just to knock them down then rescue Lightning McQueen from the rubble. When I'm done with that, I like to sing songs about poop and tell knock knock jokes that have terrible punchlines. And then.....I like to have lunch.

I'll work on the other stuff later.......

People have wondered. Here is my best explanation.

2010-05-21T05:29:00.000-07:00

note: This post was created months ago. I was thinking about posting a new version but I thought that this one was ok and that I may add to it. It is interesting to look back at it with another layer of life laid on top of it.

This is a political post. It is an explanation of why I am no longer a Republican. It will hopefully not be a lightning rod for a political back and forth by my two readers and it will hopefully not be terribly offensive though, as political views go, someone is going to be miffed by some assumption I make. I don't apologize for my views because I believe them to be genuine and correct at this time in my life. I say "at this time in my life" because people change, as I have, as they grow and experience things and think about things. So here goes.
I used to be a Republican. I used to think that liberals were strange and uninformed crybabies. It helped that I listened to Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh because they would confirm that liberals were crybabies and would ruin the nation. I believed that rogue countries needed to be dealt with by force and American power, and that impoverished nations like Africa just couldn't get their act together and garner the resources of that enormous continent has and use them to become a powerful force in the world. I believe that my views had a lot of racial and social bigotry driving them. I believed, like a lot of Republicans, that poor people just needed to pick themselves up by their bootstraps and get with the program so that the government didn't have to support them. I pretty much believed most of the fiscal conservative rhetoric. I usually came down on the liberal side of some social issues like abortion but I considered myself a Republican. There are two things that changed my view, not immediately, but over the course of a year or two. Kids, and the pastor at my church.
First, my kids. When I had kids, I began to notice kids, and their parents. At the grocery store, at the doctors office, just generally out and about. Here is where the shift started. I knew , for the most part, that parents wanted to take care of their kids more than anything as I did. At the grocery store about a year ago. I was in line with my kids and there was a woman with three kids in front of me checking out. She had a cart full of stuff and the kids were whining about toys and whatnot, normal stuff. When she pulled out her WIC card, which is Michigan's version of food stamps, my Republican self righteousness came up. "Here is another one", I thought, living off the government. Then I saw the look on her face as she peered at me out of the corner of here eye, then looked down at here feet. At the time, I didn't think anything of it because I hadn't yet known what my pastor would eventually teach me, compassion. I thought back on that recently and through my more compassionate, yet still a little self righteous minds eye, I saw what the look from that woman then down at her feet was: Shame. Shame from a thousand conservative radio hosts calling her a welfare queen and millions of Americans agreeing in self righteous unified indignation. All she wanted to do was feed her family and just could not do it all by herself. I don't know her circumstances but I do know that people need help sometimes and just because a few people cheat the system doesn't make a person on welfare less of a human. More on compassion later, back to my kids. Another thing that has changed my views as it regards my kids is the Iraq war. I supported it, big time. I was all for it. Saddam Hussein needed to be removed and I still think it was a good thing that he was. However, as I began to think of the kids, and they are kids, that go into the military, I began to think of my kids going into the military and being sent to some far away land to fight. I am not opposed to my kids going into the military by any means but I would like them to understand what they are getting themselves into. Our society, as most do and have for centuries, bolster the warrior and celebrate him as an instant hero. Don't get me wrong there are many heroes in the military and I support them with all of my heart but I feel we as citizens as well as the warriors themselves have been ramped up by unwavering nationalism and the unfailing moral right of our government and our military. We are taught that to question a war makes you un-American and no matter how supportive you are of the individuals fighting the war, Sean Hannity is going to call you out as a terrorist sympathizer. On a side note, I realize that a lot of Republicans are not Sean Hannity but he is one of the loudest voices of the party and a radio show doesn't go on without listener support. So there you have it, how my kids have affected my political views. It may be not very succinctly put but hopefully well enough to be understood. It is also a very compact version and I'm sure that there are many other minute factors but those are two of the big ones.
Second, and this is the big one. Compassion. My pastor made me a liberal. Sounds kinda funny doesn't it? Aren't Pastors supposed to pull you into the fold of good Christian conservatism? To make you a well fit cog in the Republican Political Machine? Absolutely not. Pastors, the good ones, teach you about God and Jesus. Not the version that people use to hate homosexuals but the version, the one I believe in, the one that I believe to be in the Bible, that loves everybody and has a compassion that everybody in the world should strive for within themselves. Uncompromising compassion that has no exceptions. I don't have that by any means but am trying. So anyway, as I began to learn about loving people and having compassion for people, I began to think about the way I view them, all of them. That is when I thought back to the lady in the store. That is when I began to see that a lot of people cannot change their circumstances, the cannot "pull themselves up by their bootstraps". They may not have the education they need, they may not have been taught how to take care of money, or how to get a good paying job or even how to read. They may have an illness that keeps them from functioning. There may be underlying circumstances that will absolutely not allow them to survive on their own without help.

He are some newer thoughts: My ideals have not changed. In fact, they have most likely grown more leftist. Maybe even Socialist. People need help. We need to help them. The government, while terribly inefficient, can help them. The Church can as well and does wonderful work but it is not enough. I don't want my kids growing up in an "I've got mine don't take it" world.

awakening.......from the long hibernation.....

2010-05-12T06:06:00.000-07:00

I haven't added to this blog since November though there has been quite a lot going on. Here is the nutshell. The big nut: Around the end of November, I sneezed one day and lost my voice. Strange I thought, but no big deal. and it wasn't really. Fast forward to December and I had been having just a little trouble with hoarseness but it ' any big deal. I went to the doc, who sent me to the ENT, who shoved a tiny camera up my nose and down my throat to look at my vocal chords, then told me that mt cords looked good an healthy and I may have some overuse problems. Christmas Eve, on the special song for the "Let It Be Christmas" Which was in fact "Let it Be" by the Beatles, my voice began to fail. nobody else noticed it, but I did. Something was wrong. a few weeks later, the hoarseness moved from my singing voice to my regular talking voice. All of the sudden I couldn't get any volume to correct the kids or keep them from running into the road. Back to the ENT who scoped me again and said, nothing wrong. Fast forward to February, when we were finally ready for a second opinion and went to an ENT a friend recommended who, in about 5 seconds of looking with the up-nose camera found a "really big" polyp. Therapy wasn't going to help so I went under the knife a few days later to have it removed. I am now working on vocal therapy and am singing again but not back to 100% quite yet. The ENT who missed the "really big polyp" refused our request to refund our $90 in copays and basically said the the polyp may have formed after my second visit. Sure Doc, how's your ego today? it was a pretty dark time for me when I didn't have my voice that wasn't helped by the excruciating long dismal winter that Michigan always provides. The main issue was not being able to read to the kids. I couldn't sing either but it was dealing everyday with the kids that was the most depressing. Hopefully, I am on my way back to a strong singing voice but can read and make funny noises again so I'm working back into the positive.
I started roasting my own coffee at Christmas when Azsure got me a small home coffee roaster and some beans. It has been a blast! so much so that for my birthday in February, I took all my dough and gift certificates and upgraded to a bigger coffee roaster. It fills a lot of my thoughts and focus learning about coffee and drinking coffee and reading about coffee. It is a lot of fun and great new hobby to help me relax after a few days of craziness with the kids. It may be a future enterprise someday down the road. We'll see.
We are gearing up for the summer here. We used to say "ohhhhh the summers are so beautiful in Michigan that it makes the rest of the year worth it." That no longer applies. The 9.5 month dreary winter in Michigan blows. The only way the summer could make up for it is if it rained candy and ice cream for an hour every day during the summer. This past winter was a killer.
That's all for now. hopefully, I can keep up a little better from now on.

Here comes winter. where was fall?

2009-11-04T06:55:00.001-08:00

Fall kinda came and went, but mostly we had only a handful of fall-like days. We may get a couple more this weekend and it looks like I will do my best to get the Christmas lights up. Once November arrives, I wait for that one last fairly warm day and up go the lights. If I waited until after Thanksgiving, I could be out in the snow on my ladder and that is no good.
The other day, the greeter at the grocery store advised the kids and I to "take our time so mommy could sleep in". Being an At-Home-Dad, I have come to expect that, especially in West Michigan which is ultra conservative. However, it kinda irks the father in me, and this is the fault of men everywhere. The assumption is that fathers are secondary. Like we are doing a great favor to our wives to do something with our kids even if it is grocery shopping. Men are becoming more involved but not to the extent they should. I still hear of dads who have never changed a diaper, or put there kids to bed. To be fair, I know of moms who wont let dads do some of those things and that is as much of a problem as dads who wont. Anyway, the disjointed point is that its time to move forward and throw out the 50's era parenting attitudes and embrace the fact that dads need to get more hands on and moms need to let that happen too.
Another minor irritation is this: The GR At home dads group was at the mall the other day for playgroup. Some moms who were there we obviously surprised to see so many men at the play area. (granted, the moms are normally a little nervous when we show up in force to a playground. They look like the pedophile convention just came to town.) Anyway, one mom said to the other "wow I've never seen so may guys here before" to which the other said "yeah, my husband is getting laid off too". More assumptions. See above.
Speaking of kids, mine are crazy. They fight all the time. My patience is gone.
Ephram is liking preschool. I was hoping for a little more challenge for him. We thought that there would be more one on one time which was our understanding when we asked what they would do with a kid who knows his colors and letters and reads already. They go over one letter a week and one color. He has fun and is happy that they get lots of snacks that he doesn't get at home like goldfish crackers and fake cheese and crackers and all that other crap that proves that food companies and tobacco companies have the same corporate vision.
Speaking of things that are good for your body and not good for your body. The swine flu craziness is driving me crazy. The news leads every day with more stuff and the internet is full of misinformation. Parents dont know what the hell to do. I am taking our pediatricians advice and will have them vaccinated if we can. There are a lot of parents that are not because the read on some discussion board that the vaccine has antifreeze in it.( coincidentally, the same chemical that these folks are worried about, not really antifreeze, is in your store bought cookie dough. Thanks mom.....or dad!) I saw one recommendation that said," see my page for some good information on why not to get your child vaccinated". When I went there it was a discussion board. Note to parents: discussion boards are full of liars. People say things like "i work in the medical field" That person may be the janitor or worse. point being, don't get your medical info from discussion board people. Thy probably just came from another discussion board after giving some other completely unreliable advice. I'm just saying get the info from a reliable source and make an informed decision.
out

So are the days of our lives.......

2009-08-20T07:05:00.000-07:00

It has obviously been a long time since I have written anything. That is how I start a lot of blogs apparently. Oh well, My 2 readers haven't really complained. A few things are going on these days.
I am in the middle of my own personal Renaissance. The creative side of me has been rearing its head and I have not only been working on writing music but generally thinking and feeling artistic lately. I have been devouring music like in the days of my youth. Consuming it like a ravenous hyena then scouring itunes and other sources for my next meal. Wilco, Son Volt, Pete Yorn, Mark Olsen, all kinds. I am even approaching the music I am listening to for new church songs with almost the same vigor. It is good. Even the kids are getting into it. I turn on the new Wilco album and they dance like little wild hippies throughout the kitchen and living room.
Speaking of Wilco, Azsure and I are going to see them in Ann Arbor in October. Yay!
I took the kids to the toy store to get some bike helmets the other day. They were quite happy about it. Soijer picked out a Barbie helmet that came with knee and elbow pads. She looks terribly cute and after the first fall with them on, she realized that the protection offered her a whole new carelessness about her safety. She has already fallen so many times that she has rubbed the Barbi stickers off of the knee pads.
I am actually running out of time so I'll leave it at that. a quick update. Back soon
out.

One more small thing......

2009-07-08T11:44:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention something in the last blog that is definitely blog worthy. Last week the kids were playing and I was making lunch. Soijer and Ephram were arguing over a book. I called them to lunch and as we were sitting at the table Ephram says "Soijer, I am going to eat faster than you and get down and take that book and put it in my room and close the door." to which Soijer replies: "Ephram, if you take that book into your room, I am going to get down and go and open the door to your room, get that book, bring it back in the living room, open it up and break it over your head!!". Quite a specific threat from a 2 year old. I was speechless.

whew!!

2009-07-08T05:01:00.000-07:00

The holiday weekend is finally over! It was very busy with all the parades and concerts and stuff but was pretty fun. The weather was good and by good, I mean not hot. The parades went well and nobody fell off the trailer as it was rolling down the street ad we got rid of like 10,000 freeze pops. The cookout that evening was fun but the fireworks sent the kids into a complete meltdown. they freaked out completely and had a hard time sleeping even with their white noise cd's blasting at full volume. It doesn't help that the "fireworks" in the neighborhood, (and when I say fireworks, I mean farmer made IED's that surpass military grade high explosive), kept rattling the windows in the house and waking the kids. It finally stopped around 11:00 or so and they got to sleep. The service and concert on Sunday both went well. All that is left is to get up to the church tonight and hook up the sound system and the July 4th 2009 extravaganza will be history.
The new Wilco album is good, really good. Each time I listen to it, it gets better and I hear things that I didn't before. The kids even like it with their favorite song being "I'll Fight". How fitting.
I may have to get off the caffeine. I have been noticing lately that during my morning and afternoon and whenever else coffee, I am getting pain in my neck and shoulders. I am not happy about it. Coffee is one of my pleasures in life. I spend a lot of time and money on it. I am heading to the local roaster to get some decaf this weekend to see if it is indeed the caffeine that is making me tense in the back. Lets hope its just the kids. :)
Azsure and Ephram are going to Springfield this weekend so Soijer and I will have Saturday and most of Sunday to ourselves. I think we are going to do some birthday shopping for Ephram as well as Spend my gift certificates to Williams-Sonoma. Should be fun.
Thats all for now.....

Random update....

2009-06-23T08:22:00.000-07:00

A few things going on lately, we are gearing up for the July 4th festivities here in Dorr. The band loads up on a trailer and we blast at full volume as we drive down the road in the parade. Its fun. We do 2 parades on the 4th then have the 4th annual Hedges family cookout for everybody that participated in the parade at our house. We have an outdoor service on the morning of the 5th and then the band is playing at the carnival thing on the evening of the 5th. I am just hoping that my voice will hold out for the weekend.
Azsure and I got a babysitter yesterday and she took the day off and we went to Saugatuck for the day. saugatuck is a very cool artist town on lake michigan. We spent the day wandering the stores, eating great food, tasting wine and otherwise just enjoying ourselves without the kids yelling and complaining. We cam home with four bottles of wine from the Fenn Valley winery. I have felt very refreshed after the trip.
Fathers day was good. I recieved a cookbook from our local tapas bar "San Chez" which I have wanted for a while. I am eager to try some of the tapas recipes especially the Blue Cheese Fritters which we our favorite last time we went out to eat there. I then got the day off while the kids and Azsure played outside. I laid around and didnt have to deal with any fatherly things.
We are having playgroup at the house tomorrow. Lots of kids running wild in the yard. I am also cooking out so it should be fun. Hopefully, it wont be too hot. I have to make cookies today as well as make up the marinade for the jerk pork tenderloin for the dads.
I'm on the facebook now. We'll see if that is going to be a blessing or a curse. I'll report later.
got my ship notification for the new Wilco album. Yes! It should be here in a couple of days. A little over a week later, the new Son Volt album will be out. Then in August, the Bottle Rockets have a new one coming. It is officially my best music summer in years! yay for me! and Soijer, who loves Wilco! and Ephram who loves Son Volt!
out for now!

Stuck in Illinois with the "Ephram's got the barf blues" blues......

2009-06-08T11:52:00.000-07:00

So the kids and I traveled down to IL for a week with the grandparents. I needed a break from both full time parenting as well as part time church work. I also wanted some new surroundings to just kinda kick start some creative thought and play some guitar. I made a vow to not think of any church music for the whole week. Not that I don't like church music, but, it is something that is a job to me. I don't sit around and listen to church music unless I am working on finding new songs to play at church. I don't attempt to consume it like I would say, the new Wilco album coming out at the end of the month. Also, while here, I scored some music recommendations from my buddies so I should be good to go for a few months with more albums.

Wal-Mart customer service sucks. ....

The Wal-Martization of Benton IL is complete. You can barely get anything unless you drive to the walmart. I don't know if it is just the Benton walmart or all walmarts but its like the dementors from Harry Potter. If you get to close, you start to get the feeling that you will never know happiness again. It is a soul sucking chasm for which there is no escape and I had to go there just about every day to get something. The greeters might have well have been saying "welcome to wal mart, guns are that way, please bring one back and kill me". They really need the guy from the Grandville Meijer store to spruce up the attitude. With this in mind, I determined to stop whining about the greeting and take a proactive approach. I would give the walmart greeter a warm greeting myself and hopefully brighten their spirits amidst the downtrodden throng of humanity that passes through there everyday. So with my spirits high, I headed out for some road snacks for the trip back to Michigan. I cruised through the door ready to spring my joy on the greeter. Problem, no greeter. Hmmm.....oh well, there has to be someone around in a blue smock that needs a lift. Finally I went to the speedy checkout with my stuff. I waited for the lady in front of me to finish then I sprung. "hi" said the checkout girl. "GOOD AFTERNOON!! HOW ARE YOU TODAY!!" I shouted. She was a little taken aback. "OK I guess" she replied. "FANTASTIC!!" I assume at this point she pushed a button somewhere that alerted the manager or Sam Walton himself that they had a live one. Any way I paid for my stuff then happily yelled "HAVE A GGGGRRRREAT DAY!!!!". She looked a little scared". as I was walking towards the door I spotted my initial target, the Wal Mart Greeter. "yes" I thought to myself. As she looked up from digging some sort of filth out of a cart I yelled with all of my joyous gusto "HAVE A FANTASTIC DAY!!!!!" She smiled. Sweet Victory. Take that soul sucker!
We had planned to leave the wonderful land of Lincoln on Monday morning but Sunday night, Ephram got a really high fever and said his head was hurting from "staying at the circus too long". (welcome to my world boy, I live at the circus) I decided to give him some of the new children s Tylenol I had picked up (wal mart again!) for Soijer earlier in the week. I gave him the suggested dose of strawberry flavored goo , which smelled a lot like strawberry schnapps by the way, and about 2 minutes later, he refunded it all over the carpet at my folks house. Later, I tried again and got the same result but in the toilet this time. Thanks Tylenol, your attempt to make medicine taste just like super sugar candy has burned me for the last time! We switched to the melty tab things the next day and they stayed down. So after an extra day in IL we made the trip back to Michigan without incident. On a side note, Ephram loves to stop in Gary Indiana. Every time we go to IL, I try to time it so we don't have to stop there but he must see the abandoned buildings and crack houses from I-80 and it triggers his urge to pee immediately.
I woke up in sweet cool Michigan this morning, ran a couple of miles and the kids and I set of to play at the park with the guys and kids from the dad's group. Fun was had by all. I am, however, going to most likely have to work the rest of the week to pull the kids back into the fold after being with grandparents all week. I guess that is the price paid for a little respite.

Becoming highly effective and the Swine Flu

2009-05-01T06:04:00.000-07:00

I am not terribly effective but I am working on it. Steven Covey is assisting me right now. I don't know if any of you know the Franklin Covey system of planners but you've most likely heard of the book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People". Anyway, I have been making an effort to establish my roles for the week on Sunday. Roles being things like, father, husband, worship leader, etc. you get the idea. So anyway, one of my roles the past few weeks has been "musician". I am trying to get back into being more creative and bringing back the musician in me. Learning new songs, writing a little and generally beating on my guitar whenever I can. So this weeks challenge/goal for myself was to write a poem about anything. It didn't have to be anything groundbreaking and I'm not much of a poet. Being someone who usually finds the humor in chaos ( Ask me about my song "West Nile Virus Blues"), the recent media blitz and corresponding all around paranoia about the swine flu provided the inspiration.
So here ya go a Guit-Box daddy original poem:

N1H1 musing #1
I Thought it was just a cough.
A lingering cough from the recent weather change.
But someone at the grocery store told me "we're done for"
That "not only are illegal immigrants taking our jobs, now they're killing us"
"No, really, it's just a cough"
I wanted to look up the word "pandemic"
but ended up playing Daily Trivia instead
People freaked out a little
I was just irritated that I couldn't sing
When I turned on the t.v. and there was nothing but static,
I decided to write a song about it.
Actually I decided to write a sonnet, but I couldn't remember the rules.
All I could come up with was this:
"Oh foul swine!
Oh eater of bones and garbage!
In the farmers romantic sight
you are clever and wise!
but to everybody else....
you are pork chop demise!!"

I hasnt even been a full month yet!

2009-04-22T17:09:00.000-07:00

When you have your own blog that is seen and read by throngs of people, and by throngs i mean, like, 3, you apparently have to keep up with the writing or you get comments like "time to update your blog" (you know who you are) or how bout some new rants.. Well, here it is: the update. A months worth of goings on all packed into a few sweet paragraphs for you, the fans, the curious, the ones waiting for their (ahem) videos to download. (wink wink)
March flew out and I was happy to see it go. Anything that gets me closer to summer weather is a great thing. Azsure plodded away at rehearsal for the play she is in and I plodded away apparently at the comfort food because before I knew it, I had gained five pounds just sitting around bored eating. Never fear though, I am slowly reversing the process and am happy to report that my pants fit again.
Soijer had her 2nd birthday which was fun. we went to Meijer gardens to see the butterfly exhibit and then came home and ate cake. a person from our church made and Elmo cake which was nice. She got some cool toys and Has been fighting with Ephram over them ever since. Happy birthday!
Speaking of Ephram, he is down in Illinois with the grandparents so the Soi-bean and I have been having a little daddy-daughter time this week. it has been fun. We went to home depot and sears to look at refridgerators.
Yes refridgerators. its time for a new one. Its not that our current fridge doesnt work, it does. everything is nice and cool. But the drawers and plastic stuff is all torn up. I did call fridgidaire and another parts place to replace the drawer assembly and the price quote caused me to utter some random explitive and hang up. So me and Soi-sauce have been out this week looking for a shiny new fridge and there are some shiny new ones out there too. So many that I really have no clue what to get. oh well, I'm sure it will all come together soon enough and I will see a day where I can take a pepper out of a drawer without the whole assembly falling out.
Got the new Wilco DVD the other day. Ive watched the first few parts of it and its good. You should check it out. Jeff Tweedy is a strange individual but he's got the rock and roll in him so I approve. On a random music note. I heard "Ballad of the Kingsmen" by Todd Snider the other day come through the ipod random playlist. Man, that guy spends a lot of time with the reefer. Anyway, the watching of Jeff Tweedy and Wilco gave me the inspriation to pull out my old Supro flattop acoustic and give it a play. I hadnt seen the thing in over a year and when I pulled it out, the freakin thing was still in tune and when i strummed the ultimate rock chord (thats open E by the way) It came out like a warm stew. I was comforted and satisfied to say the least. So I immediatly took it upstaris and pledged to learn a new song on it this week which I have already done. "I'll follow you into the dark" by Deathcab for Cutie for those interested. dont ask, I really dont know how Death Cab for Cutie ended up in my music library. Maybe for the very reason to provide a renewed connection to the Supro. The wood on some parts of that guitar is like fresh pasta dough. now I know why willie nelson still plays that guitar that is more hole that wood.
Azsure's show has started and I went to see it on Saturday. It was really good and very funny. she had lost her voice the night before opening but you couldnt tell at all. shes a pro. Seeing her do the creative thing made me almost a little jealous. Seeing the buzz from the live performance and all. I do get to perform every week at church but it doesn't have the same effect as playing a rock show. I guess it's because the decadent element of the rock show is precisely what you are trying to get away from in a worship set. Its like there are two guys inside me battling it out. One wants to be good and the other one wants to booze it up and kick the other guy out on the street. That is probably the innner battle in most people though.
Saw my first wasp the other day so those of you who have followed the blog from the beginning know that it will soon be time to get out the old cans of wasp killer and make the rounds in the yard warning all of the wasps to not make a homestead here lest the be terminated with extreme prejudice.
Holy frijoles!, I have really rambled on for quite a while about some really boring stuff so I will leave you all to ponder my insight. My Wii tennis skill level isnt going to increase itself.
out.

Eleven years of wedded bliss......

2009-03-23T07:02:00.000-07:00

Azsure and I celebrated 11 years on Saturday. I cant really even remember who I was before we got married but I'm pretty sure that that guy would have ended up in a lot more trouble. We went out for dinner on Friday night to celebrate and went to Bistro Bella Vita which is my favorite restaurant downtown. It touts itself as "mediterranean country cuisine" but all I know is that its is good and it is fresh. I had the boeuf bourguignon and was awesome. it had lots of squash and potatoes and green beans and brussel sprouts in a yummy wine sauce. Azsure had a rotisserie chicken in a goat cheese fondue and it was really good too though quite rich. I finished it of with the Tiramisu. all yummy. The thing I like about going to Bella vita is that it is inspiring to me as a home cook. I really like to cook but I dont know how to build flavors. I pretty much need a recipe. i dont know if that is a talent thing or a learned thing but I would really like to know how to do it better. i would like to be able to hit the farm stand and just grab some stuff and bring it home and cook something healthy and tasty for me and the fam.
On a related food note, I have become goldfish cracker intolerant. We rarely have stuff like Goldfish crackers in the house but grandma brought a huge tub of them last time she came and I love the things so I have been eating them along with the kids for snacks. Well, i have come to realize, after a few terribly upset stomachs, that its the goldfish crackers. There is no other explanation. It must be the hydrogenated oils or something because my body is rejecting them.
Speaking of snacks, its snack time....
out

GR Dads on the news

2009-03-23T06:31:00.000-07:00

I got a cal the other day from our local Fox affiliate wanting to do a story for the news that very night. Despite the late notice, I rounded up a couple of the dads and we made it out to the park for an interview. It turned out fairly well I thought. Thanks especially to the camera guy who ended up catching up with me elbow deep in Soijer poop out at the car. Or not.

you can see the clip here

Despite being weary.... I blog....

2009-03-15T15:30:00.000-07:00

Its been a pretty tiring last couple of weeks and I haven't had anything too exciting to write about. Azsure started her rehearsal for the Grand Rapids Civic Theater production of "The Foreigner" which keeps her gone from whe she goes to work in the morning until about 10:30pm or so Monday through Thursday and also Sunday nights from 5:15 until we'll see. I've quite a bit of time alone with the kids and it is a little challenging to say the least. The house is pretty much a mess and I have been snacking uncontrollably for the last week, which is fun, but my pants are starting to tighten. Luckily, I found this cool new workout to try starting tomorrow called the UFC fat blasting workout. Anybody who knows me is really havin a laugh right now vbecause I am not what you call Ultimate Fighting Championship material. Not yet at least!!! Check back in a month.
I had one especially fun moment with Soijer this week. I have been sing two Wilco Songs to Soijer every night at bedtime since she was a baby. "Mistunderstood" and "At Least thats what you said". Well, the other night at the appropriate moment during misunderstood , Soijer yells out "cause you still love rock and roll!!" I, of course in response gave her the horns. you know fist in the air, pinky and index finger raised in triumphant rock appreciation. It was a great father daughter moment.
In other news......hmmmm...... The new parenting book I am reading says I have an "authoritarian" approach to parenting. Thanks for that. Luckily, I just bought one of those military style jackets so now I can wear it while I tell the kids to eat their veggies and clean up their toys.
all for now.....

The toddler food revolution begins........

2009-02-26T14:57:00.000-08:00

Another short note today to mention how much my kids like avocados. So today I made Avocado and tomato whole wheat wraps. They loved it! So much better than an ordinary avocado sandwich. There is some great satisfaction in getting something really healthy into a toddler and them being happy about it. Its also good to stick it to the food companies who insist on trying to poison us all. On a related food note, I constantly see moms at the park, mall or wherever, continually shoving food at their kids. like the whole time. "Here johnny, here are some more goldfish crackers. oh and some fruit snacks too" (that's not fruit lady!!!) Anyway, It peaked my curiosity because none of the dads in my group are even giving out snacks during the play time. I wonder if its a gender thing? Is it a nurturing thing for women? hmmm....curious. I'll still save my tirade regarding the crap that passes as food and kids snacks for another day. That's the second time I've mentioned that but its coming.
My wife's mother is coming in tonight for a visit and Ephram has been freaked out all day. He is really excited. I've been trying to give him a little leniency (wow did I really spell that right the first time? spell check says so) since he is over excited. It should be fun and give me some time to decompress.
Speaking of compressing, My wife got the lead roll in the Grand Rapids Civic Theater Production of "The Foreigner". It is pretty exciting for her and we are all very proud. We are a bit concerned that rehearsal is Sunday through Thursday nights from 7:00pm to 10:00pm and that it will cause me to go a little crazy with the kids but the way I see it, total insanity should set in after a week or two and I can enjoy the bliss from then on out.
Lastly, Human Touch by Springsteen is a killer song. That's all...

Robots built for warfare? Come with me if you want to live.....

2009-02-24T13:46:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note today to mention this article I read in the New Yorker about a gunsmith who makes a recoil-less, fully automatic shotgun that is mounted on a small ground robot or U.A.V Helicopter. It was so freaking interesting and scary that I had to post something about it. If you like this sort of techno thing, or if you have seen the Matrix too many times, give it a read. The picture in my mind was of hundreds of thousands of armed to the gills, Wall-E style robots parading down Pennsylvania Avenue (kinda like the Soviets used to parade their ICBM's). Really interesting stuff. The coolest thing he talked about was a larger robot that breaks into a building then drops seven of the smaller robots armed with this crazy auto shotgun to clear the place out. Before you know it, someone from the future will be sent back here to kill the guy that created this thing because, of course, the robots will have taken over and turned humankind into slaves.

Here is the article
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/02/23/090223fa_fact_ratliff

The arrival of middle age....with a little fame on the side..

2009-02-17T07:14:00.000-08:00

I use the term "middle age" loosely. My college professor of sociology told my that my generation would have an average life span of 120 years. I don't think that he anticipated the effect that processed and fast food would have on our evolution in that it would drive our society backwards instead of forwards. That's a whole other subject that I'll get into another time. I'm talking about reaching the big 35. Probably not actually middle age but, considering what I did to my body in my early 20's, a lofty goal none the less. My birthday last Thursday was good. My folks came to town from Illinois and we went out for dinner at On The Border where my favorite is the fish tacos (talk about food that is not good for you, the fish tacos are a definite heart killer but it was my freakin birthday). My wife had purchased a new pan for me earlier in the week and it came actually on my birthday which was cool. I know, what your thinking, a pan for your birthday how exciting, but i was fairly jazzed about it because it was an All Clad pan which I have drooled over for quite a while and am now fully prepared to engage in some culinary masterpieces such as fried plantains and Blue Cheese Fritters. (both favorites of mine from the Tapas Bar). I also brought in enough birthday dough and gift cards (35 is apparently a milestone so you get more stuff), to afford the espresso machine I've had my eye on for quite some time. The kids broke my old machine so I am looking forward to making my own coffee drinks again. On a side note, my apologies to Starbucks, I know you guys are in some trouble but I have to look at my own economy too. I'll still be around a little especialy around christmas for a peppermint mocha so dont fret. Overall, my birthday week was really enjoyable. I did have to play in a wedding so that took up my friday and saturday but all was well. I just need to get out and get some espresso and maybe a glass or two for my new machine when it gets here.
Now for the fame part......We had a small article about the dad's group in the local family magazine which led to an interview on WLHT radio here in Grand Rapids. It was a very short interview but I think I did ok and was not a bumbling idiot and got the info across so hopefully that will lead to some more members. I was just happy to find out that it was not some sort of cruel prank which was in the back of my ever conspiracy laden mind.
With all of that said, its time for spring. It's time for playgrounds and not malls. Its time for cargo shorts (the official uniform of the stay at home dad), sandals, t shirts and getting rid of the fight to get a toddler in a winter coat into the five point harness of a carseat. As I have said in the past "Be gone winter.....come again next year. you've worn out your welcome"

Sometimes, my job is just.........

2009-02-03T06:19:00.000-08:00

If you read my last blog, you learned of my experience with E falling in a public toilet and my ensuing fear of what he could be infected with. Well, this week, the "march of 1000 fecal armies" visited my other child. Literally. My sweet, angel of a daughter Soijer, who will be 2 in April, has been fighting her afternoon nap for the past few weeks. It drives me crazy. She needs the sleep. I need the break. E needs to play Wii bowling without someone screaming at him and standing in front of the TV. So lately, I have been leaving her to babble and make noise and play in her crib and whatnot for however long it takes for her to either go to sleep or for me to decide that its too late and she can go to bed really early. Yesterday, she was doing her normal thing and I listened for a while to her through the monitor and after about an hour or so I decided that it was time to go in and tell her to go to sleep. When I walked into the bedroom, I was met by a punch in the face of super stink and almost just closed the door and sealed up the room. Then my eyes met my sweet daughter happily giggling. Happily giggling with her pants off. "whatcha' doin baby" I say in my sweet daddy voice masking my irritation of her again refusing to sleep. That's when I notice. Poop..... Squirty poop........ Everywhere...... All over the sheets....all over Elmo...All over Bunny...... All over care bear.....a little on Soijer's head..... a lot on her hands.....Once again the thought of closing the door and sealing the room crosses my mind. I open my mouth and nothing comes out. I am officially speechless. In my mind, I am cursing the 1000 fecal armies with all of my best cuss word combinations but there are none sufficient to convey the utter horror I am experiencing. I have to take a minute. Time to conjure up some of the parental wisdom, patience, love and all the other stuff that the books say come with parenthood. I don't have any. I try to take a deep breath or two, but the smell shocks me back to reality. Finally, God presents the miracle I was waiting for. Soijer looks at me, looks at her hands and, with the sweetest angel voice says "daddy.....................poop". I am disarmed. "yes baby" I say, "poop". I suck it up and get to work, get Soijer clean and into the tub, put all of here sleeping buddies into the washing machine and go about looking around for secret poop smudges on the wall or crib or whatever. Finally, i finish all of the cleanup and finish the day. My wife found the whole situation hysterical. I laughed too when I told her about it but there were a few minutes there where I about lost it. I'm not sure what the lesson is for that one. Maybe there is no lesson, just a story for my amusement and all of Soijer's first dates.

Nintendo Wii with a side of public restroom disgust-o-germs please....

2009-01-29T06:45:00.000-08:00

We had been thinking about purchasing a Wii for ourselves and the kids so we had been on the lookout for a while to see when one would be available. finally last Sunday, we saw in the Sunday ad that Target had some. I called on target, none left. Called another and they had 9 left. At my lovely wife's urging, I hurried and packed Ephram into the car and we sped off to Target to get a Wii before they were gone. Anyone with a toddler knows that anytime there is a time sensitive matter to take care of, the toddler will inevitably affect the speed by either engaging what I like to call "toddler speed", which is the slowest, lollygaggiest manner of travel possible, or in this case will have to use the bathroom as soon as you are the farthest distance possible from a bathroom. So as we are cruising down 100th street, Ephram yells out " I have to go peepee!!!!" Can you hold it? "No"!!! It was, as it always is, an urgent situation. So I push the gas a little harder in an attempt to get to the marathon station at the freeway as fast a possible while Ephram holds his wiener and does the pee pee wiggle in his car seat. Finally, we pull in to the marathon and jump out. Of course now, Ephram engages Toddler speed and slows down to look at the packed snow on the wheel wells of our car. "Pee pee Ephram" I yell which brings him back to the reality of the urgent matter and he starts to run to the door. We haul it into the bathroom and pull off his coat and make it just in the nick of time. After the major relief of making it to the bathroom, I tell Ephram not to linger at the potty and that lets get going so we can go get the Wii. He, of course does not care about time and is standing, pants down, admiring the decor of the fancy gas station bathroom. "step back and pull up your pants" I say. (for those who don't have boys, the step back command allows for your toddler to bend over and pull up his pants without sticking his head on the public restroom toilet). He replies "first I gotta flush". I say ok go ahead. Well instead of walking around to the side of the toilet, he just reaches out from the front to get to the handle. Enter slow motion reaction from me. My eyes assessed the long reach, then moved down to the floor where I noticed the wet from the snowy tile floor. I tried to stop him but to no avail. His shoes slipped and he went forward. All the way forward.......into the toilet. The un-flushed toilet. He reached out both hands out and caught himself.......but caught himself in the toilet.....the pee filled, nasty, public toilet. As the horror registered in my mind of a thousand fecal armies set to march up his arms, E says, quite calmly "uh oh". Yeah uh oh!! Luckily, I had rolled up his sleeves so he only had skin contact. We scrubbed his arms like nothing before and then when we got in the car doused his arms with hand sanitizer and were on our way. We did end up getting a Wii but there were only a few left when we got there. Ephram has not come down with any third world mega virus either so all is well. Until next time.....
out

Time to beat the dead horse.....

2009-01-27T13:30:00.000-08:00

My last blog included some ranting about the Michigan budget and lack of what I consider to be common sense regarding how to exercise said budget when it comes to snow plowing. For a new chapter in the ongoing plight of the snow plow powers that be, enter the Allegan County road commission. The other day, while walking out to get the mail, one of my daily pleasures as an at home dad ( a couple minutes of silent peace), I see that the gigantic, monster gas sucking fiend that is the Allegan snow plow truck is heading into our subdivision, plow engaged against the already smoothed snow covered surface. Normal reaction to this sight would probably be indifference. Not me. I was miffed. We hadn't seen any sort of snow in the past five days! the roads were decent! You're blowing the budget for crying out loud!! Wait for the snow #$@#@!!! No plow for days when our road had a foot of snow on it and now this?? Couldn't believe it!! I was mentally writing my strongly worded letter to our leadership. Now for the best part. As I sat on the driveway having some sort of silent hissy fit. The guy comes back up the road and, wait for it.....plows like a foot and a half of packed icy dirt/crap snow onto my driveway. aahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I'm going to save some of those chunks for the next time he comes around. If you've ever seen the movie Funny Farm with Chevy Chase, its like the part with the mail man. He is my new nemesis.
On a lighter note, we went out to San Chez, a Tapas Bar in GRand Rapids. The food was really good and it was a fun experience. I ordered Michigan Artisan Beer from the drink menu and about half way through the owner came out and asked me how I liked It. I thought that strange until I got the bill and it was $19 bucks. No wonder he came out. Lesson learned. It was a good beer. not $19 dollar good but still tasty.
Azsure (my wife) is going to St Louis for a conference and will be gone for 2 nights. Its always a bit of a challenge to have no break from the kids all day and night but I do get to sleep on the most comfortable part of the bed, the big hump in the middle. Im taking the kids out thursday to the mexican place for fun. we rarely go out for lunch or dinner so it will be a treat. plus I have a coupon!
One of these days, I am going to actually write a blog about beng a dad. There are some good stories Im sure and I need to tap into that. It would probably be more constructive than talking about snow plowers. Plus how many stories about snow plowers end with my 3 year old son falling in to the public toilet. Tune in later for that.....
out.

blog blog blog........

2009-01-13T06:45:00.000-08:00

Though the Michigan winter has tried its best to destroy me, I live. Though the snow keeps me in a bit where my children try to break my will and send me past insanity, I survive. Be gone winter, come again another day.

That's about it. Christmas...good. New Years...good. First half of January...not too bad. My only complaint is the roads. Our exquisite Michigan leadership has once again proved their genius by, in an attempt to save money, not paying plow drivers to plow on the weekends. Cause we never get snow on Friday through Sunday in Michigan. There are also huge craters all over the city because the roads are falling apart. Our wonderful elected officials refuse to look to other states road technology to maybe learn something about building roads that last for a few years and have settled on just patching with asphalt because its cheaper. Thanks guys, you'll notice that the roads out of Michigan are the worst because they get the most traffic from all of the moving trucks taking people out of the state. Next thing you know, the big three auto makers will be building moving trucks because there is a need for them as people move out. They will use the insight that they have in the past to put all of their money into the production of vehicles that wont be used in a couple of years but hey, that's what they do. On a related note, Hyundai gets the North American car of the year? Everybody at GM should resign in shame.
Speaking of broken things, my bread machine broke. not really broke but I realized that the nonstick stuff on the inside was chipping off and getting into the dough. nothing like feeding your family poison for who knows how long. I know what your thinking...bread machine, how very masculine, but I was kinda distraught because I used that thing so much to make pizza dough and whatnot. Oh well, a new one is on the way. That one by the way was from wal mart and it lasted 10 years. The new one is like the Cadillac of home appliances so we'll see if it lives up.
With the new year came a few resolutions but a lot of them came out like a to do list. Clean out the file cabinet, clean out under the sink, organize the front closet. The others were a little more serious. Be more patient with the kids. Az suggssted this one. Its a good thought, sometimes I get really tired of the fighting and the whining. now when I say something to stop it, Ephram asks "are you going to turn into the incredible hulk daddy"? yes I am ephram, yes I am. The other thing was to force myself to be a giver. It is easy to help people out but my probelm is not paying enough attention to notice peoples needs on a day to day basis. So that's the idea, to remind myself daily that people, especially here in michigan , need help or at least a pick me up during the daily grind and take action.
lastly, I'll be 35 next month. hmmmm....yeah... not sure what to say about that....

2008-12-03T05:45:00.000-08:00

My first video blog! wow, i need to clean my basement!

Welcome to November.....

2008-11-06T10:32:00.000-08:00

November is here but the weather would say otherwise. We have been enjoying some warm days this week and have been outside playing. Here are some of the things that have been going on:

The election. WOW! I was pretty happy to see Barack Obama win. Even though I am a registered republican, I went the other way. It seems that having kids had made me more of a liberal. I don't know why exactly, maybe its because the last few year of "compassionate conservatism" have been an complete hoax. People need help. period. Some of them just cant help themselves so the government should. (the libertarian living inside me just had a stroke as I typed that). Anyway, back to the election. Watching the celebration all over the country and the world for that matter made me realize just how historic the election really was. I became a little more emotional than I thought I would seeing grown men with tears in their eyes. It was really unbelievable. America will never be the same. Now, lets see how Barack will do as President. Should be interesting. As one of my old friends put it in a text message Wednesday morning "Barack Obama mother f****r!!!!"
On a related note, realizing that the world is changing, sadly, it is unfortunately the same in some ways. We received a homemade flier in our mailbox a week or so before the election that was pretty racist in tone which started with the headline "Wake up white America!" and proceeded to rant about some completely false quotes from Obama. I was pretty po'ed about the whole thing. I realize that its the world we live in but I really don't need my kids growing up in a area where that kind of crap is floating around. Folks like that need to realize that our culture is becoming more and more diverse and our kids need to learn how to live ad thrive in a world that is getting smaller. Unfortunately, Ephram and Soijer are not going to get that sort of education in this district.
Speaking of warm, I made the snap decision yesterday when t was 70 degrees to get the Christmas lights up on the house. you may think me a Christmas freak, which I am, but I am also the freak who will merely flip a switch the day after thanksgiving instead of braving the cold to get my festive spirit on. Fa la la la la la la la la ........
Lastly, for some reason, there is a strange anomaly going on around my house. I don't know if it has to do with me deserving punishment for something I may have done, or some strange space/time flux, or simply that my kids think I deserve it, but lately anytime the kids throw something, swing something, or just let go of something, it hits me in the crotch. Its not fun. I am constantly protecting myself and as soon as I stop thinking about it, BAM! , hot wheels car to the crotch. Strange. I hope its just a phase.
out.

I am becoming clark griswald....

2008-10-15T17:27:00.000-07:00

While the world falls down around me with financial catastrophe and other general economic crapification (yes, I like to make up words and that's a good one), I have noticed a change in my personality. While in my youth, as with many, I was concerned with image and being up on music and basic "I'm a cool guy" sort of thing, these days I have found something that trumps all of that and brings out the real fun loving dufus in me. What I am speaking of is the Family fun day. Its any weekend day where there is a real plan and destination to have fun with the kids and wife. I'm not just talking about a trip to the mall but and actual destination. This last weekend was the apple orchard where one utterance out of my mouth made me come to the realization that my life has changed in drastic ways since the arrival of my kids and my decision to stay home and take care of them. It was not anything midblowingly insightful about politics or art or economics (although therm "economic crapification" is pretty good). It was not about solving of the world problems or where we go when we die. It was "Wow! look at that pumpkin!!"................wow, look at that pumpkin..........It's not just the fact that I said wow look at that pumpkin, it was the fact that I really meant it. I had general excitement about this big pumpkin and really wanted Ephram to see it. I think in response he said I want a donut. anyway, it comes back to the fact that I am becoming Clark Griswald and Im not really too worried about it. I like family fun day. I like to pick apples and look at big pumpkins. Hell, I even dont mind too much that I had too haul 4 bags of apples a half mile to the car. I say too much..... Anywhoo, Im not sure when the next Hedges family fun day will occur but you can rest assured that I will be out and ready in black socks and sandals, fanny pack and all that good stuff. Actaully that last part was a lie, I only wear tshirts and cargo pants.
out

This is the end........of our elaborate plans the end....

2008-10-10T11:31:00.000-07:00

If you have turned on the tv lately, it has been announced by the media that we have finally pulled the handle on the giant toilet and we are all starting the swirly decent into chaos or whatever the bottom has in store for us. I said to E the other day when he was in front of the tv "move and pay attention, this is historic". Anyway, holy smokes! what a mess!! One of the guys in the dads playgroup today hit the nail on the head when he said " I am waiting to turn on the radio one morning and only hearing static" That about sums it up. There is some evil side to me that appreciates the chaos and cant look away. Yet ,in the midst of this enormous credit crisis, I still get at least two credit card offers at day in the mail. So here is the big idea: why not let the a-holes filling my mail box with pre approved credit offers lend the money to the a-holes who wrote the bad mortgages? By the way, I like to take out all of the junk from the envelope and put it in the return envelope and send it back. it doesn't seem to be working though, maybe I should fill it with rocks.

In other stuff, The hedges family went on the annual Hedges family fun day to Frankenmuth. MI to go to the big Christmas store. It is very Clark Griswaldy and we even listened to some Christmas music on the way over. The big score though was at the outlet mall that afternoon. I scored a new cast iron wok which was pretty sweet. This week we are stir frying up a storm!
We are also gearing up for a trip to IL next Sunday. I am looking forward to eating a Pizza Shack and Eckerts Farm. should be somewhat fun but the best part: we are leaving the kids for few extra days. I have been so excited that I cant even figure out what I am going to do for those days. Lay around? watch movies? Start smoking again? Who knows, it is all very over stimulating to think about it.
That's all for now,

Dad instinct....

2008-09-18T11:30:00.001-07:00

A lot of the parenting books describe how new parents will be able to take care of their kids by instinct. They talk about how dads and moms will just know how to nurture their kids and help them along and after a while, parenting will be very natural. Well, the other day, my inert dad instinct failed, at least I hope it was a failure and not some sort of subconscious statement about being irritated with Soijer. We were in the bathroom hanging out in the morning, we being the whole family. Soijer was happily climbing on the step stool which normally Ephram is very adamant about not letting her do. I saw her begin to lose her balance and then watched as she began to fall. However, my paternal instincts did not kick in as they should have. Instead, my self preservation instinct engaged. I saw her heading for my feet and the split second thought was, not to save my child, but that her 90th percentile sized head was going to smash my already injured big toe so I just moved it out of the way and clunk! she hit the floor and started to cry. I looked at Azsure and she looked at me, then realizing the strangeness of me just letting her fall, we both started laughing. Soijer was not happy at all but we knew that she would live. Since then, I have been wondering about my paternal instincts. Whether or not they are there or just on vacation or have been chased away by days of fighting kids and nights of yelling babies. Oh well, we'll just have to find out.

I am still alive.....

2008-09-12T11:01:00.000-07:00

In case you were wondering. Thats all for today.

The long weekend and other bric-a-brac

2008-07-08T06:04:00.000-07:00

Well, the long independence day weekend is gone and so starts me back to regular weekday stuff. The parades went fairly well aside from me forgetting the words to one song over and over throughout the Dorr parade. It was a song that we sing very regularly but after I forgot them the first time, it was just repeated brain fart. I did remember it that last 2 times though at the end. We had a really big cookout that evening and had lots of friends over. Ephram, however, is not a fan of the fourth of july in general. He had to be brought home by my wife from the parade right after the fire engines went by due to the noise. That evening someone set off a big explosive in the neighborhood and he went totally crazy shaking and screaming. After a lot of hand holding and putting the biggest, loudest fan next to his head in his bedroom, I got him to sleep and he slept through the rest of the night. We had a nice weekend of lounging since all of the work that is normally to be done on the weekend was done during the week due to the party.
On to other things......
It has become apparent that some of you found my blog about sweet wasp murder to be somewhat funny. Well, I am here to report that I have found no wasp nests this year near my house. That is none, nada, zero, zilch. Apparently the wasps have recognized my strong but fair warnings and have taken the appropriate steps to ensure their survival. Nature has a way of continuing eh? I will come to your house and do the same for a small fee. ( yes, I am now an official wasp mercenary)
One of my old buddies requested that I recount a story about an unfortunate incident regarding a hot pocket and the robot dance. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the details very well. The gist of it is: at a time in my life (a couple of years ago) when I was for some reason doing the robot dance throughout my house for my own entertainment, there was and incident where a woman cut in front of me while I was trying to get a hot pocket at the local grocery store. Instead of pushing her out of the way or giving some snide comment, I robot danced at her in a threatening fashion. Maybe I had just watched "you got served" or some other movie where instead of shooting each other, the rival gangs just dance at each other. I cant remember. All I do know is that after that day, I had to reevaluate my robot dancing . I am happy to say that I have not used the robot dance as a weapon since.
That is all for now.

I dont blog...

2008-06-26T05:49:00.001-07:00

I don't blog enough to keep it interesting. I apparently don't have the discipline or the memory to keep it up daily so instead there are these wonderful synopsi (right? plural of synopsis?) to catch up on what i've been doing in the last few weeks or months. So, here it comes, quickly before the kids find out that I'm downstairs and start unrolling all of the toilet paper rolls through the house. The church praise band played the west michigan conference service and it was really great. The band was loud and rowdy and the crowd responded. It was like having 700 of the best worshipers all in one place. It was a great experience. A fellow at home dad and I spent part of a day driving around taking pictures which was fun. We had Soijer with us but all the other kids were not so we had a decent non screaming morning. (on a humorous note, we found out later that we ended up at the local beach which is widely known as the gay nude beach. We both got a laugh when he told me but I had already assumed we were branded as a gay couple anyway. 2 guys wandering the beach with a baby in a backpack? yep. branded) Ephram went to Illinois for a visit and I had a very relaxed week with Soijer. We laid around, played on the floor and did some fun stuff. She was very sweet and barely cried all week. We were both happy when E got back home even though he immediately started taking all of her toys away. We are gearing up for the fourth of July. The praise band will load all of our gear onto a trailer and ride in the parade through door blasting music(at about 4000 watts mind you) in the faces of little kids and there parents then give them freeze pops. ( word to tom Jefferson, we're still keeping it real in the USA yo) Finally, Azsure's temporary job position is coming to a close and we are gearing up for the next step. It will most likely mean a move somewhere so I am looking for a good place to go that has a state farm office and a lower cost of living that west Michigan. Believe it or not Grand rapids is higher than a lot of places. It must be all the union labor. So far the options for a move are Bloomington, IL and Lincoln, NE. Bring on the corn, I say. As long as I don't have to learn a new phrase for pop, or soda, or coke or whatever, I'll be alright. I'll try to be a little more consistent with the blogging in the future.
out

ahh spring....and sweet wasp murder.

2008-05-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

Spring is here and so are the gentle urgings to update my blog. So here I am filled with wisdom and whatnot to pass on to the small handful of people who read my blog.
Spring has arrived and with it my nemesis. The wasp. As long as I have been a homeowner, I have despised the arrival of the wasps and wasp nests. I really despise them. Especially the little yellow jacket kind. If they would just stay out of my face, and grill for that matter, we could peacefully coexist. but they don't. I walk out the door and I get a facial buzzing flyby and it drives me nuts. Therefore, back about 8 years ago, I began a Hedges family tradition: The Hedges Family Annual wasp cleansing. At the first sign of a wasp, I wander the perimeter of the house and issue a stern eviction notice to all of the wasps that are in earshot. I then wait a few days to give them a chance to find other accommodations (I am tough but fair) After that, my property becomes a wasp and hornet spray free-fire zone. I wander the yard with the foam 20ft spray (it never reaches 20 ft by the way) and systematically murder every wasp and wasp nest I see with extreme prejudice. I will chase them if they are in free flight if I have to. I offer no quarter because I know none would be offered to me should I stumble into a nest. Now, most people will knock down the nests after all of the wasps are dead. Not me. A nest covered in dead wasps serves as the perfect deterrent for other wasps thinking about moving into the neighborhood. I still have a dead carcass of a wasp on our wind chimes from 2 summers ago and have no intention of removing it. It will forever stand as a warning and a symbol of my commitment to driving the wasp out of my subdivision and therefore out of my life.

music revolution and increasing skepticism...

2008-04-11T11:25:00.000-07:00

Two things have been growing these past few weeks and months. First, I have navigated away from talk radio an have been diving back into my music library and it has been a real joy. Revisiting the Beatles has been especially fun because it brings back a time when I was discovering music in a new way. Not as a background or entertainment, but really diving in to a song or album experience and letting it wash over me. It also brought some chuckles. ( i have a buddy, you know who you are, who told me one morning that the night before he was sure that "Across the Universe" had just appeared on his "Let it Be"album and was delivered to him directly from John Lennon). If you knew me in those days you wouldn't be surprised and, If memory serves me, we went out that very night and I'm pretty sure I had the same experience. Anywho, the whole experience has brought me back to an appreciation of good music (and obviously brought back my music snobbery, not that it ever really left). Which happens to be a good tie in to my next point.
It has recently occurred to me that i give everybody too much credit. And I dont just mean that i thought everybody should recognize a great album (Michael Jackson's Thriller) or a crappy one ( Justin Timberlake's new one). Please recognize that for arguments sake, I picked out a great album in a genre that I don't normally associate myself with to illustrate the fact that I am not showing any bias. I mean in all categories of life. i am now skeptical of all leadership which is not a big deal but now I am feeling a lack of confidence in professionals like doctors and business leaders because it appears that an enormous veil has been lifted from my eyes and has revealed that everyone is human and their opinions are not any better or more informed in mine. No kidding you say, but yep. I think that a lot of it has to do with the Michigan leadership. ( i will try not to rant here). I am baffled by some of the decisions made by our leadership. Really, its like: when did the patients start running the asylum? Apparently they always have been. another thing. The UAW is going to strike? I realize that they have a powerful union but I don't care who you are, why do you risk your job in an economy that is failing anyway. It all leads me to a fundamental lack of faith in people's judgment and reason. It is all kinda sad actually. I guess I have finally reached adulthood and see the sad state of real life. The only thing I guess I can do is hold on to what I have and try to improve the situation of those in my general vicinity.
On that note, I'll start making the world a better place one person at a time: here are some recommendations for great albums everyone should hear:
Sea Change by Beck
Revolver by The Beatles
Normal for Bridgewater by Peter Bruntnell
Car Wheels on a Gravel Road by Lucinda Williams

Maybe I'll list some more as they come to me and one day everybody will be enlightened and people like Miley Cirus and Mariah Carey will be out of a job.

until then.....

I am still alive. Here are a few things....

2008-03-18T16:55:00.000-07:00

quick one today....

New Kathleen Edwards album. Really good. "and I sure a shit do love you, and I cuss because I mean it and for that in my heart I am hopeful. And in the words that I chose I was so careful". Nice. my new favorite Canadian. Sorry Neil, your yesterdays news.

Spring is still not quite here. I have been out for a few runs pushing the kids in the jogger which is nice.

The new grill is good. Made some really good crabcakes the other evening for a small group dinner. Yum. found the hotspot on the grill and burned a few though.

Winter storm warning today???? Are you kidding me????? Allow me to reiterate my sentiments from an earlier blog: You still suck snow come back next year. I'm moving to Miami.

bring on the spring for crying out loud!!

2008-02-27T05:59:00.000-08:00

In effort to usher in springtime, I am looking for a new grill. We decided on our cruise that it is time for a meat renaissance in this family. mmmm......meat. It should nicely coincide with the fruit renaissance that I am personally experiencing having eaten an apple, a pear and four bananas yesterday. (that could also be called a fiber renaissance as well). Thats five servings by the way, take that food pyramid! Anywho, its pretty hard to find a grill these days because there are too many options and apparently, I need them all. While I would like to have a 10 foot grill with a marble counter top, fridge, bottle opener, and all the other crap you can get today, I dont need a second mortgage to pay for it. So, I think I have finally decided on the one that is one sale a Sears. That, by the way, is my recommendation: "The one that is one sale at sears" I would also recommend "the one that is on sale at lowe's or home depot" maybe even " the one that is on sale at the gas station"either way you slice it, i am still going to have to dig a foot of snow off of my deck to fire that puppy up. Bon appetit!!
p.s. you suck snow, come back next year.

Well, back to the local farms for Beef....

2008-02-22T11:53:00.000-08:00

Yep, that's right, back to Sisters Natural food to get beef from happy, pasture fed cows that are not harassed and tortured before they become my steak. After seeing the footage on the news of the dude pushing the cow around with the fork lift, I was haunted by it every time I passed a fast food joint. I don't exactly know why it matters if my hamburger is tortured before it is killed and chopped up but it does. I wonder if I would have the same reaction if I saw footage of somebody drop-kicking an eggplant? what an ethical dilemma!!

Super Tuesday!!!!!!!

2008-02-05T10:54:00.000-08:00

Its almost like my own super bowl sunday without the funny commercials. too bad I cant stay up late enough to hear the California results start to trickle in.
Viva la democracia!!!!!

The Black Crowes...

2008-01-31T12:13:00.000-08:00

I revisited and old cd the other day. Southern Harmony and Musical Companion by The Black Crowes. Man, talk about one of the best albums of the 90's. The Crowes know how to do it. They know how to present rock and roll the way it should be and the way that made our parents and grand parents think rock and roll came straight from the devil. It just feels decadent.
Whatcha got buried in your back yard? what secret do you sleep with when the black moon comes?
yep. that's it.

a couple of firsts today....

2008-01-22T10:50:00.001-08:00

today has been interesting already. I have had a couple of fun occurrences. First, I got up bright and early and fired up the snow blower to blow off the driveway so my wife could get her little tiny car out and go to work. of course at the end of the driveway, as usual, the plow had piled snow so I figured I would dig a trail to the mailbox so that the mail lady could get the car up close enough so she wouldn't have to get out of the car (a collective awww please..). Well, as I happily plowed through throwing huge tubes of wet snow onto the sidewalk, the snow blower seized with a thunk. Hmmm out of gas? nope, further inspection revealed that I had run over the Sunday copy of the Pennasee Globe newspaper and it was all jammed up in the 2nd stage. After yanking for about 20 minutes, it came out but I was almost ready to give up and call the snow blower repair man which is Sears and you know how that would have gone.
Next, Ephram was playing in his room before lunch and I asked him to come in for lunch and to specifically not pull all of the books off his bookshelf again. You can guess what he did. I was quite po'ed and pretty much yelled at him. not one of my better moments. so a few minutes later on the changing table he said he was sorry he made a mess. i told him that it was ok and that I shouldn't have raised my voice at him. he corrected me and said "you yelled at me daddy". I said "you're right and I shouldn't have done that, I'm sorry". He then said "i guess you get to go to the corner and have a time out" I thought for a second and figured, "you know what, he's right" and went and had my first daddy time out. I did not stay there for minutes to age like some books recommend but did it none the less. interesting fun.
I have been stuck in the house going on the second day. Today i rearranged all of the kitchen cabinets and packed up a bunch of glasses that we dint use. please stop snowing.
out.

Taxes yippee!!

2008-01-14T11:22:00.000-08:00

unlike a lot of people, i like tax time. once the new year turns, I anxiously await all of the stuff, which reminds me, i need to make my list of w2's, 1098's and other forms that I need before i can do the taxes. it is quite a strange thing because i hate math and have never been very organized. oh well, maybe its my subconscious wanting to stick it to the irs by reporting things that cause me to keep more of our money. it will also be nice because we had another baby this year so we get to keep more of our own money. take that uncle sam!! the more money you want the more babies we'll have to keep your grubby paws off of it!! yehaww!!! uh oh! my tax credit just woke up!!
out

on whining and complaining

2008-01-11T06:04:00.000-08:00

I am getting rid of some of my blogs because i realized that they are of no use to anyone. My main resolution this year is to grow spiritually and the bitching about government or news is not helping anybody. I will still blog about this sort of thing but make an effort to keep my soapbox packed away.

Merry Christmas Happy New Year

2008-01-04T10:31:00.000-08:00

I haven't written anything in a while because this is the busy time of year. now that it is over, hopefully, I will be a little better about writing. Christmas was good. my folks came up for the week from Illinois and helped a lot with the kids while Azsure and I were working on Christmas eve stuff at church. The Christmas Eve service went well and the live nativity that Azsure organized went better than we though it would. Apparently any time you have a live baby donkey somewhere, so shall the crowds come to see. Christmas morning was good. Ephram got tons of toys then spent the rest of the day playing with Soijers 1 toy. Our new years eve was fairly tame with our church small group coming over for food and Texas Hold em poker. I did not win.
Now, to the new year. my election excitement has increased ten fold. I normally really pay attention come election time but this year, I stayed away from it until the turn of the new year. XM radio has a new channel called POTUS '08 which brought me up to speed in about 20 minutes on the election goings on.
I'm still working on my resolutions for the year. They have to do with some spiritual growth amongst other things. I actually kept mine from last year and exercised, dropped 15-20 pounds and got my first physical since high school. We will see how the cholesterol levels came out this year when I get another exam.
We are looking forwrd to our 10 year anniversary in march and are taking acruise in feb to celebrate. yeah!! no kids for 6 days!! I should come back fat and tan!
thats all for now.
out

A new toy, and a new revulsion to Shallots and Broccoli

2007-11-29T10:46:00.000-08:00

The first of the week brought many surprises to the Hedges household. From reading the last blog entry, you know that Ephram had a bout with what we thought was too much Thanksgiving sweets. After further investigation, I have deduced that he may have actually had some sort of flu bug type thing. My research which led up to this conclusion consisted only of the uncomfortable tightening of my stomach monday night and subsequent two days of dry heaving, moaning, cramping and begging for either mercy or death. My wife, not to be outdone, followed with the same just a few hours later. I cannot think of anything worse than having to deal with that sort of thing with both parents down and kids running wild. Luckily, my wife, who is much stronger than I was, was able to find a gentle soul to care for the kids while I writhed in the fetal position completely incapacitated. The bonus of the whole situation you ask? Rachael Ray's yummy Broccoli Cheese stuffed baked potatoes. A new favorite of ours made with sauteed shallots and cheesy gooeyness and tons of broccoli. Also, a meal in which even typing out makes me stomach begin to turn. I had an extra large helping on Monday night for dinner and go to enjoy it for the next two days. sssshudddddderrr........
Wednesday morning brought hope as , while pretty wiped out, I was able to get out of bed and get right with the world. I had been eagerly waiting for a new early Christmas present and didn't know when it would come because the store sent the wrong tracking number for UPS and all the info I received was "no information". I would have emailed the store back but was, as you know, curled in the fetal position begging for mercy......or death. However, when walking into the kitchen, I heard voices outside. It was the UPS guy with my package. A fancy 2004 Gretsch 6120 Hollowbody in Western Orange with a Tiger Flame Maple Body, or a new guitar if you will. My spirits were immediately lifted. It was all shiny and sparkly and had shiny gold knobs and all the good stuff. What was even better was that it was band practice night. When i plugged it in, oh baby! Monster crunch, tone city. Definitely worth every penny. no questions! Thanks to my lovely wife. That's all for now.
out

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T06:28:00.001-08:00

Happy Turkey day from the Hedges household. We had a great day begining with pumpkin pie for breakfast! I cooked for just the four of us and we proceeded to stuff ourselves at lunch after watching the Macy's parade. We then kinda laid around the house, Ephram and I finished putting up the Christmas lights on the house and then stuffed ourselves again at dinner. We had lots of food including turkey, Azsure's now famous twice baked stufed potatoes, and pumpkin pie, oreo cake, stuffing, mint M & M's, sweet taters, gravy and rolls. Ephram had a blast eating way too much and got way too much sweet stuff. The best part of the day? Ephram returned all of that good food at about 11:00pm last night and was up most of the night. That's right, a monster barf fest. The first covered him, his bed, and almost all of his bed time buddies. Monkey was the only one that came out clean. He barfed a few times after that and, if you know toddlers, they dont puke on anything that is easy to clean up so we have wet spots all over the carpet from cleaning. E is feeling better this morning but has not asked for anything to eat. I am quite worn out but the coffee is kicking in so the day looks promising.
out.

New to Blogging

2007-11-15T06:27:00.000-08:00

I am new to blogging but have decided to do it with some inspiration from a friend who is in my Dad's playgroup. I hope to use this to remember some good stuff from my kids, maybe vent a little, and share my life with anybody who is interested. Lets see how it goes in the next few days.