I am dealing with two learning curves.

Actually, one of them is just a reminder of things I already knew, but at a higher rate of speed.

The first one is WordPress. It is a wonderfully adaptable and ownable blog software. Finding just what you want and being able to use it is a nice change from blogger. Of course, if you happen to hit this blog while I am trying things out, the appearance may change while you are off reading the comments on another post…

The second one is raising a child. Again. In my first marriage, there were two girls that came with the first wife. I raised them both as my own. (the older one has issues, and I will not be talking about her.) The younger one was six months old when I married her mother, and she only knows me as “daddy” – which is really, really cool. She is 22 now and married, living in Idaho with her husband and dog and cat in a house they just bought.

Now, I have this sixteen month old information sponge that I am raising. I have learned that chores go a lot quicker when a toddler is helping. No, really – they have to. At least, the chores that you can accomplish while watching a small person with eighteen arms and forty two hands. For example, emptying the dishwasher. MEG has figured out how to unlock and open the dishwasher (and also how to lock it and start it, whether it’s ready to go or not) so when the dishes are clean, they need to be put away. I have found that it takes about 3.5 seconds to empty and store the dishes. (when I was a teenager, it would take me about 3.5 days to do the dishes when asked. told. commanded. ordered. threatened.) Otherwise, most of them get to be reloaded and rewashed after MEG shares the flatware with the dogs and the plates with the cats.

While I was in the Marine Corps, two minute showers were the rule. We lived in squad bays from the Korean War era (interesting sidenote – my Dad helped build most of them on Camp Pendleton. he was a Marine Corps meteorologist, which is a perfect MOS for building squad bays, right?) (they are all replaced by BEQ dorms now, two Marines to a room, no comradarie…) Anyway – sixty guys, ten shower heads, reveille was called at 0500, assembly at 0600 and chow at 0630, so there was not a lot of time for you to relax in a long hot shower. That’s history. Now, two minutes to a toddler is forever. My shower lasts ninety seconds on a slow day, so MEG doesn’t start getting upset because I’m out of sight. Unless, of course, I’m up before she is, then I grab a longer shower and get shaved and dressed rather leisurely. On those days, I even get to enjoy shaving with the straight razor, taking my time and having deep thoughts.

Everything else is in a hurry – her hurry. Somethings don’t get done – the floor has little piles in the corner (I’m not going to tell you piles of what, so don’t even bother asking.) and the entertainment center needs to be dusted – again. But, I am not going to take time away from MEG’s learning curve to satisfy someone else’s idea of clean. The house is not going to fall apart, and we can still tell what color the tile is.

Make sure you wish your mother a Happy Mother’s Day tomorrow.

I may even break my own rule about not allowing bitterness to creep into my life and call my own mother. Maybe. Long story for another post.

Have a good weekend.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

I normally (well, most of the time) (OK, when I have time…) have a link fest and list my blog reads here along with their latest posts; since tomorrow’s show is going to feature my regular reads, I figured I would just chat a bit today. (Be sure to call in and let me know YOUR regular reads at (347) 838-9573. Or, drop in the chatroom to – uhm, chat – or just sit back and lurk as a listener. that’s fine. don’t participate. i’ll just drone on and on and on by myself. no, really, it’s fine.)

Sorry, forgot to mention the show is at 0700 Mountain Standard Time. No, we don’t do Daylight Savings. Yes, I’m on the same time as Pacific right now. No, I don’t know when it changes back. I don’t care. Remember? we don’t do it, so why keep track of it? Just go and sign up as a member of blogtalkradio, add me as a favorite, and you will get customized notice of when the show is, with YOUR time on it. Now, back to the regular column, which I so rudely interrupted:

Today TMBWitW was going to take the day off. Yesterday MEG started to run a slight fever and recycle everything that went in. Sure wish I had know about the recycling decision BEFORE I gave her the fruit snacks, but there you have it. In light of the recycling effort and TMBWitW’s quick trip to the urgent care center last night while I was at church, she decided to take today as a sick day instead.

(They are both napping right now, which is the only reason I am posting. Shhh. Don’t wake them up.)

Since it’s Thursday, I need to go out and bring the cans back in from the curb. I also need to sweep up the latest conglomeration of pet hair that is gathering in the corners. Oh, and if you all happen to see my black cat, Captain Midnight (he’s got tags and a chip) out and about, please tell him to stay out of the street and go home. No, he doesn’t normally go out. He’s an inside cat, like all the rest. While I was helping Logan get out this morning, Captain slipped out the door and was up and over the wall before I could get Logan situated and chase after Captain. What a stupid cat. I love him dearly, but if he runs off, I will never know what happened to him.

Remember to tune in tomorrow. I’ll talk to you then.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

This Friday on The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, I will be running down a Blog Roll “Call”, talking about the blogs that I follow on a fairly regular basis. Do you have favorites? Call in, let me know: (347) 838-9573, Friday morning at 0700 Mountain Standard Time (I live in Arizona, we don’t “do” Daylight Savings Time).

I have got to get this off my chest. There are certain people who are either totally oblivious or really, really cocky – and they cross the streets of Phoenix as pedestrians. There was a lady this morning who crossed in front of me as I approached a green light. No, she wasn’t in the cross walk – my goodness, that was another ten feet down the street! She was crossing AGAINST THE LIGHT outside of the crosswalk. I should have hit her, just to challenge the stupid law that says ALL pedestrians have the right of way. I think it should be RESPONSIBLY ACTING pedestrians have the right of way – the ones who use the crosswalk, cross with the light, wait for traffic to clear, etc. This stepping off in the middle of the street in front of traffic might fly where you come from, but around here you might not make it to the center line next time. There are certain laws that you cannot get away with breaking – and the Law of Common Sense is one of them.

TMBWitW sent me this news article – and, since she works at the paper, I have no reason to have to “research” it for it’s veracity – after all, it came from someone who works at the paper!

Dog Pack Attacks Gator In Florida
At times nature can be cruel, but there is also
a raw beauty, and even a certain justice
manifested within that cruelty.

The alligator, one of the oldest and ultimate
predators, normally considered the ‘apex
predator’, can still fall victim to implemented
‘team work’ strategy, made possible due to
the tight knit social structure and ‘survival
of the pack mentality’ bred into the canines.
(See the remarkable photograph below
courtesy of Nature Magazine.)

Note that the Alpha dog has a muzzle hold
on the gator preventing it from breathing,
while another dog has a hold on the tail to
keep it from thrashing. The third dog
attacks the soft underbelly of the gator.

This is not for the squeamish, so please
take care when viewing the image.

So – how is your week going?

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Go here.

Order a shirt (or two, or five) and Wear Red on Fridays – Support Your Troops!

I got into too many events on Friday – didn’t even get to blog. On the other hand, I did get to see “Flags of Our Fathers” – about the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima and the aftermath for the men who raised the flag in the iconic Joe Rosenthal picture.

I’m not going to spoil it, but it was very good. At one point, a four-star general made clear his feelings about Indians (Ira Hayes, a Pima indian, was one of the men in the photograph) and I yelled at the screen. I called the general an SOB, out very loud. There weren’t a lot of people in the theatre at the time, since it was the first showing on the first day of release, at a theatre that not a lot of people frequent at 11:30 on a Friday morning. The ones that were, however, accepted my apology and two of them, former Marines themselves, said they felt the same way.

Yesterday (Saturday), I spent most of the morning with the husband of one of my first wife’s daughters. (Wow, that was a clumsy sentence. I’ll call the daughter C and her husband M, that will be much easier. Let me try this again…)

Yesterday (Saturday), I spent most of the morning with M, C’s husband. He plays guitar for praise and worship at their church, and we sat down and jammed for about three or four hours. When you are having that much fun, you tend to lose track of time. Then, it was off to Costco and then P&W rehearsal for my church.

This morning I picked up dog poop and pulled weeds. I’ll be in church this evening, at the regular service time. Guess who found out last night that he would be doing special music? I’ll be doing “Praise You In This Storm” by Casting Crowns again. Hey, short notice, you get a repeat performance.

I hope you all are having or have had a wonderful and blessed weekend.

God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, and get in on the Baby Pool!