Random Access

Tuesday – 09 November 2021
Today, I had the opportunity to volunteer/chaperone for Team DiVa’s class, as they participated in the Junior Achievement City “BizTown.”

JA BizTown combines in-class learning with a day-long visit to a simulated town. This popular program allows elementary school students to operate banks, manage restaurants, write checks, and vote for mayor. The program helps students connect the dots between what they learn in school and the real world.

There was an additional bonus: The girls had NO IDEA that I’d be there.

That was a definite #win.

Both ladies were the CEOs of their respective businesses:

I didn’t work with either of the ladies. I was assigned as a volunteer in City Hall. I worked with the Mayor (CEO), Town Treasurer (CFO), Attorney, Two Account Executives, and a DJ.

Twenty businesses were represented, ranging from retail, food services, utilities, a school district, news and television outlets, and even sports. Each business started the day by taking out a loan from one of the two banks; kids were then responsible for making sure that their businesses made money, paid payroll, created and/or paid invoices, and more. Businesses could also create ads to run on the radio or television – which created revenue for the media outlets and hopefully turned into awareness – and sales – for the business featured in the ad.

The morning opened with an opening meeting and remarks from the Mayor, along with speeches from a few of the business’ CEOs. Diana, gave one of the opening speeches.

One of the things that I wasn’t aware of until the day was over: She didn’t have a script for her speech. (There WAS a script for her speech, but her volunteers didn’t tell her to bring it. *facepalm*) She ad-libbed her entire opening, based on things she heard from some of the CEOs who spoke before her! She was so calm and cool about it that I – and I’m sure no one else, aside from possibly the JA staff – had no idea that she was going completely off-the-cuff with her remarks.

After the speeches, it was off to the proverbial races!

At first, it was a little like herding cats – this was largely due to the amped-up energy of the kids, trying to figure out what to do and how to do it. (As volunteers, we were there to support and guide, not to do the jobs for them.) Some things were done “a little” out of order. Some things got overlooked, until someone realized that something was missing. But, after a while, they got the hang of things and the day, while hectic and a bit frenetic, moved along nicely.

The day ended with a closing meeting, during which Vanessa gave one of the CEO speeches.

In all, it was a great event and I was glad to have been part of it. I was also incredibly proud of not only the ladies, but also of the City Hall employees and how well they did.

Tuesday – 13 July 2021
This has been an interesting day.

I woke up this morning to the sound of the coffee maker making coffee. However, the thought process that accompanied hearing that went more like this:

Why is the coffee pot on so early… on a Saturday?!

I decided to let it go, rather than to get up and stop it and restart it later. We’d just have to deal with twice-baked coffee.

Reality settled in a few moments later, a little sadly. I got up and started the day.

Fast forward to noon: We’re having a Teams-based training session, that I had to support. #LifeInIT About thirty minutes before the meeting, I went to Crown Burger (local, family-owned chain) to pick up lunch. Since it was National French Fry Day, potato-y goodness was in the forefront of my mind. And a pastrami burger seemed like a good counterpart for it.

I got back to the office, joined the meeting, muted my mic, and made sure that my camera was off. And then began to eat.

In order to make things easier to organize on my computer’s desktop, I lifted my laptop lid to rearrange screens. Almost immediately, I received three (3) messages, all basically saying the same thing: I want french fries, too!

Nine Hells…

I’d neglected to check to see if opening my laptop screen would cause the camera to automatically activate. (It did.) And, thus roughly two-hundred people had the opportunity to watch me shoveling french fries into my mouth. (It wasn’t quite that gluttonous an event, but you get the gist.)

Once I realized what happened, I ran through a short and semi-panicked checklist to see if I’d done anything untoward after opening my laptop (I hadn’t) and shut down the camera. Mischief managed, I resumed eating. And quietly thanked God and the rest of the Heavenly Host that I hadn’t leaned in for a bite of my burger. My big thought – after realizing that I hadn’t done anything truly embarrassing – was: If people watching me stuff fries in my face was the worst thing that happens to me today, I’m fine with that. And, let’s be honest: All things considered, it was a fairly innocuous thing to have caught on camera. And it actually makes me laugh, when I think about how it must have looked to everyone.

Fast foward again to this evening…
We’ve extended Team DiVa’s bedtime to 9:00 PM in the past couple of months, with a caveat: They can stay up until nine, but they have to be in their room and can read in bed. Typically, one of them will ask Sara to join them. Tonight, I got called up to the big leagues! Vanessa asked me if I’d read with her. I was delighted to do so. It also gave me the opportunity to finally start in on a book that I’ve had for months: Ta-Nehisi Coates’ The Water Dancer. I’m about twenty pages in, but I’m liking it.

Hopefully, Sunday Wednesday won’t be quite as eventful.

Sunday – 06 June 2021
Kids can delightful, laughter-inducing angels of joy.

They can also be emissaries from the deepest pits of Hell.

And sometimes they can be both, within a matter of minutes. Seriously. The change can be as fickle and swift as the direction from which the wind blows.

Something that people – usually those who’ve had a kid or two before you – neglect to tell you is about the vigor with which kids sometimes glom onto new things, like toys, games, TV shows, or music.

Our ladies are BIG FANS of the L.O.L Surprise Dolls line of toys, for example.

And, NO, I’m not giving them flak for that, given that I have an ever-growing collection of dolls action figures “photography subjects.” I’m self-aware enough to realize how hypocritical that would be.

Likewise, they have become big supporters of our Nintendo Switch, especially when they ask me to play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

And when I say “ask me to play,” I actually mean “get me to play so that they can tell me what to do/where to go in the game.”

I won’t even go into how they’ve binged TV shows that catch their interest, but I will say that I had NO IDEA how many “magical girl,” Sailor Moon-esque series there were and I’m sure that we’ve only barely scratched the surface there.

And, music…? Same brand, different flavor.

I should have known that something was up when I started listening to Jungle’s Busy Earnin’ and they effectively put it on solid repeat on our smart speaker.

But I didn’t.

Perhaps I should have gotten a clue when they did the same thing with Just Loud’s Soul Train.

Nope.

Ghostbusters (I’m Not Afraid), by Fallout Boy? Still nope.

Sucker, by the Jonas Brothers?  I might have started to get an inkling of an idea. Maybe.

What can I say, I’m a slow learner sometimes.

The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights?

Okay, by this time, I finally managed to find two brain cells to rub together and come up with “a clue.”

Their latest infatuation has been Dua Lipa. Mostly Levitating…

…but they have branched out a bit and will just tell the smart speaker to shuffle her songs. And it’s not just playing her songs, but randomly breaking out into song, like they’re on Fame or in Enchanted. Repeatedly.

At this point, I might as well just save some money and quit my Spotify and Amazon Music subscriptions because I have in-home, stereophonic singing. On repeat. Sometimes with the added benefit of dancing.

And I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Saturday – 23 January 2021
I spent a bit of last evening chatting with my brother-in-law, John, and my nieces. We hadn’t chatted in many months, possibly not since before the pandemic hit.

It was fun to be able to see/hear of my Niece 1’s advances into geeky nerd-dom, which I fully support. During one part of our chat, she asked about the action figures visible on shelves on the wall behind me. There was a lot of “Wow…,” as I showed her those and explained to her that there were even more in the bookcase below the shelves. At one point, she noted that Black Widow was her favorite figure; I went to pull out two figures (classic comic and Endgame versions) and with a total pre-teen deadpan, she said, “Uncle Rob… don’t flex on me.” Which cracked me up.

Niece 2 perked up at this point, asking me if I had THIS figure and THAT figure. I showed her the ones she asked for. She was happy.

The Niece 3 was delighted just to show me her Baby Yoda and to inform me that it was “Upside-down Day,” as she rotated the iPad they were on so that she would appear upside-down. I also got to explain to her where Venom came from and how he was “related” to Spider-Man.

Niece 1 may have gotten a bit of flexing revenge as we were closing out our conversation and I was talking with John. She asked if I played “Breath of the Wild” and I told her that I didn’t have a Switch. She just walked away with a grin. I’ll give her that one. This time.

It was nice to have an opportunity to see and chat with them, as they are far away and schedule alignment doesn’t always work out.

Wednesday – 07 August 2019
This past weekend (okay, Sunday through Tuesday), Sara, Team DiVa, and my in-laws hit the open road for Idaho. For years, Sara’s family has gone to the Stanley, ID area for vacation and we’ve been passing this tradition along to the next generation.

Sidebar: Back in 2008, Sara first invited me to go on this trip with her and her family. Camping. I’m not really a camping guy. In fact, on a call with a friend from home, when I told him that I was going camping, his first response was laughter. Loud, raucous laughter. Then he asked me what I was really going to be doing. I told him again. Again, he laughed. So, I did what anyone in my position would do: I put Sara on the phone. The exchange went something like this:

Sara: Hey! How’s it going.

[chatter on the other end]

Sara: Yeah, Rob really is going camping with us…

[chatter on the other end]

What I learned after the phone call was that the second bit of chatter was actually this bit of conversation:

“You do realize that Rob’s idea of ‘camping’ is to go to a hotel, open a window, and listen to the crickets, right?”

Which pretty much summed up my concept of “camping” to a tee. And, I’m not going to lie, after that and another camping trip, my opinion didn’t really change. In fact, I told Sara after the second trip that I would be more than happy to accompany her family on the third year’s trip… but that I would be staying in a cabin or the lodge.

Which. Actually.  Happened.  (True story.)

But, I digress…

This year, Sara once again found a lovely little AirBNB for us:

The Cabin

Two bedrooms, one and three-quarters bathrooms, nice kitchen, dining, and living rooms, and a porch with a sling/swing. I was duly impressed. She’s actually three-for-three at finding AirBNBs in an area where I would have otherwise sworn would have had nothing of the kind.

Sunday afternoon, we unpacked the car and headed back into town – I use “town” in the broadest sense, as it is a “population center” with very little population:

Stanley, ID

Yep, you read that right: “Population: Sixty-three.”

Sara and I picked up fishing licenses and then we were off to the races – or the river – to let little girls fish with their new rods. There were fish in the water, but none of them were really biting. Sara managed to get a strike, but couldn’t land the fish. After about 30 or so minutes, impatience wore down the little ladies’ resolve and they decided to try and skip stones on the water. Shortly after that, we headed back to the cabin to wind down from the day.

The next morning began with scones and bacon and Lucky Charms (for DiVa). Then we headed to the Salmon River to give the girls another shot at catching a fish. No such luck, but we did see a bald eagle. And a water snake. Back to the cabin for a bit of lunch and then, off to Redfish Lake for fun in the water.

Some of you may recall that Team DiVa had a lemonade stand on July 4th. They did this to raise money to buy a couple of large floats – a unicorn and a flamingo. This trip saw their maiden voyages.

Back to the cabin for a quick change into dry clothes and then on to the Yankee Fork River for another attempt at fishing and a nature hike. And then, back to Stanley for dinner at Papa Brunee’s Pizza and Subs.

Tuesday morning, we got up, breakfasted, and got ready to return to the hustle and bustle of our regular lives.

I might not be a huge camping and outdoors kind of guy, but it really was nice to get away for a couple of days to unwind and recharge. Here’s to next year’s adventures and the new voyages of the SS Alicorn and HMS Pink Flamingo.

Saturday – 20 July 2019
Today marks the anniversary of man’s first landing and footsteps on the moon.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Rob (@shadorunr) on Jul 20, 2019 at 8:38am PDT

After being up and down all night – until 4:30 this morning! – with a sick Team DiVa, I think that the worst is behind them. They aren’t back to full steam, but they are far better than they were at this time yesterday.

Of course, Evie decided that since this isn’t Thursday, bad news was just fine. Today’s “bad news” came in the form of a VERY awake puppy at 6:45 AM. A very awake puppy who wanted to get out of her crate and have some human interaction. Therefore, I was up at 6:45, too. Yay. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve learned that Evie can be entertained/distracted by the early morning shows with animals on them. So, that’s what we watched until it was time for her to go outside and take care of her morning run around the yard/go to the bathroom time.

Once Sara and the DiVa were up, things were back to a greatly scaled-back form of normal. Fortunately, we didn’t have anything on the day’s agenda. This is good, as it gives the ladies more recovery time. And, despite tomorrow being National Ice Cream Day, we’re going to have to postpone our annual Ice Cream Social. Again, more recovery time and less chance for possibly spreading contagion… if whatever they had was contagious. *shrug* And, check out these freebies/discounts on ice cream, by way of USA Today:

Pet owners – PetSmart: This ice cream freebie is only for dogs. At stores with PetsHotel facilities, dogs can get a free 4-ounce serving of dog-safe ice cream topped with dog biscuit treats Saturday and Sunday, while supplies last.

It’s a little after 5 PM now. I’m basically awake through sheer willpower and the remnants of this morning’s caffeine infusion still coursing through my veins. I have no illusions that I’m going to crash hard tonigh, most likely while sitting in front of the TV, watching whatever show or movie Sara and I delude ourselves into thinking that we’ll finish in one viewing.

Namaste.

Monday – 17 June 2019
Yesterday was Father’s Day. My day started with Team DiVa and Evie waking me up for breakfast – after I got to sleep in. (Not a bad way to kick off a day, to be honest.) For breakfast, I had French Toast, eggs, bacon, and fresh berries. I was then told to get dressed and get ready for a series of adventures that Team DiVa had planned for me. I was intrigued.

Our first stop was a Bonwood Bowl. Somehow, the little ladies had decided that I would really like to go bowling. (They weren’t wrong.) A frame or two into the first game, I realized that my bowling balls and my hands weren’t going to be friends and wound up having to switch to a house ball. My first game wasn’t great, but it was fun; I had a better second game. From there, I was taken to a (relatively) nearby Baskin-Robbins for ice cream. Double-scoop waffle cone. Aw, yeah.

Back home for a little down time, while Sara and the girls prepared lunch. Let me clarify that: I was told that downstairs would be a good place for me to be while they got things ready. When I was finally able to come back upstairs, there was no one there. That was… odd. Turns out that they had set up a picnic in the backyard: Ham, roast beef, pretzels, and berries. It was very cute and sweet.

The rest of the afternoon was rather full of doing lots of nothing. I also played a little Skyrim involved, as the ladies played LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2.

Later, we headed off to dinner with Sara’s side of the family. Then back home, to get the ladies ready for bed. Once they were down and out, Sara and I headed to the backyard for cigars and drinks, which was an excellent way to wind up the day. And, after all of that, I found myself back in Skyrim again for a couple of hours before calling it a good day.

And, my Father’s Day presents included some fun items:

• Sideshow Collectibles Sixth-Scale Luke Cage
• Mythic Legions Thallyn Frostbow, Shadow Elf Ranger, and Ragna Stormforger, and
• DC Collectibles DC Multiverse Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter)

It was a very good day, indeed.

Sunday – 20 January 2019
Tonight, there was a lunar eclipse, visible from North America. The skies were clear enough that we were able to see it; we also let Team DiVa stay up to see it. Sara and the girls went outside a little before nine to see what it looked like. I opted for the warmth of “staying inside.”

We all went out around 9:20. A small crescent of the moon was still unobscured. The girls were also excited to show me the constellation Orion. (Hey, they’re not usually up and outside when it’s late enough to see it and they REALLY wanted to make sure I saw it. That was an easy “win.”) After looking up at the stars and moon, we headed back inside.

At 9:35, we ventured back outside. The moon had the tiniest of fragments that was still getting direct sunlight, but it was losing ground. Quickly. About this point Vanessa commented that the moon wasn’t really that red. (Tough crowd, what can I say?) Unimpressed, she decided to go in and finish getting ready for bed. Diana wasn’t far behind her. Sara and I followed.

After tucking the ladies in, Sara and I returned outside and looked at the moon – whose red had deepened a little – and appreciated the view for a few minutes.

Eclipse

Eclipse – EMBIGGENED!

And then, not surprisingly, we came inside.

Sunday – 20 January 2019
Every once in a while your kids will come up with something that surprises and impresses you. A few minutes ago, I had one of those “onces.”

Team DiVa came to my office to play a little LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 before dinner. They looked up at the shelves around my television and noticed my Legion of Super-Heroes figures.

Ferro Lad (between Matter-Eater Lad and Timber Wolf)

Out of the blue, Diana asked “Why does Ferro Lad have an ‘Fe’ on his shirt? What does that mean?”

I responded that ‘Fe,’ in this case, stood for “Iron,” which he could turn into. (He died many, many issues past…)

She then retorted, “He was a twin. He and his brother had the same powers.”

I was stunned and it apparently showed on my face.

Diana very calmly said, “I read it in one of our books.”

Proud geek father moment: CHECK.

Tuesday – 15 January 2019
Today is the anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.‘s birthday.

When Simon and Garfunkel sang about a Hazy Shade of Winter, they must have been talking about the Salt Lake Valley. The air here has been atrocious over the past few weeks.

There’s supposed to be a weather system moving through tonight that will hopefully help move some of the chewy air out of the valley.

Stray Toasters

• Team DiVa has decided to undertake “spy training.” Last week, they spent days working on “being stealthy” and “using camouflage” to hide from Evie. (I didn’t have the heart to tell them that she could see – and just as easily smell – them, all the same.) Last night, after getting home from school, they asked me how much a motorcycle costs… because they need two of them (with two seats) to be spies. When I showed them a couple of options from BMW and Harley-Davidson, they asked if they’d have enough to buy them if they sold our house.YeahbuhWHAT?!

  Sara and I told them that, while they’d have enough to buy the motorcycles, that they’d have no place to live. At this point, Kid Logic kicked in, as they told us that they didn’t mean right now… but in a few years.

• Men Are Mad Online Because of a New Gillette Commercial
• A Son’s Race To Give His Dying Father Artificial Immortality
• A friend asked me if, when I say that I am adding something to “The Covet List,” I am adding items to an actual list. I told him, “Yes,” and that there are actually two lists. (I really need to see to it that they mirror each other more accurately.)
• How Our Cruelty Killed Hootie and the Blowfish – and Damaged Our Souls

There might be a fair bit more that I could say, but for now… I’m ready to call it a night.

Sunday – 01 October 2017
And, so, we come to Birthday Month…

So far, it’s been pretty good. Chilly, but good. Of course, any month that starts off with sleeping in can’t be all bad.

Today was a low-key, mostly spent-at-home kind of day. After the hullaballoo of last week, it wasn’t a terrible change of pace. Of course, being at home meant that (some) chores had to be tackled. Some were. The world didn’t stop spinning. This afternoon, Team DiVa and I jetted off to the mall for an errand (for me) and some walking around looking at things time (for the three of us) and a little play time at The LEGO Store (for them… mostly). All missions were accomplished nicely. The evening has been pretty quiet. I consider that a good way to end the day and start the week.

Stray Toasters

• Earlier, I posted my first-ever submission for Inktober. I haven’t really drawn anything in months and haven’t seriously drawn anything in years. This should be fun.
• Last night, we had our final session of the Shadowrun adventure my group’s been playing. The whole team survived; that’s a good thing. (For them.) I’d been co-GMing our group with my friend, Josh. He’s bowing out of running things and it seems that I’m going to be GMing the whole shebang from here on out. May the deity of my players’ choices have mercy on their souls…
• I completely spaced off a few things in my recap of Salt Lake Comic Con ’17:
  • I got to meet Michael Stackpole and have him autograph a book I’ve had for many years.
  • I also met Yale Stewart, writer and author of JL8, a webcomic based on the Justice League… as grade-schoolers.
• I know it’s probably going to get nerfed, but I love what the latest Overwatch update has done for Mercy (my main).
• Two or so months ago, I discovered a new-to-me webcomic: Star Power. I’ve quite enjoyed it.
• I’m still rather amused by how Team DiVa has taken to DuckTales – both the old and new series.
  • I think that we’re only a few episodes away from seeing my favorite Duckberg denizen: GizmoDuck!

Okay, time for  a snack and a little gaming before bed.

Namaste.

Monday – 18 September 2017
In alignment with my rationale for #NBNThursday, today has most definitely been “a Monday.” That’s okay, this too shall pass. OK Go said so.

See? Told ya so.

Today started far too early. 5:15 AM early. I was in the office at 6:15. Much respect to those of you who are up, out, and making the doughnuts that early every day. The reason for such an early start was to handle last-minute prep for a week of meetings. In itself, that’s not so bad. It became “not-so-great” on Friday evening when – long after the day had been “done” – I was notified that said meetings were going to start at 10 AM, rather than the 2 PM we had originally been told. In short, our timeline for handling things just had four hours lopped off the top. As there was nothing to be done about it, I simply replied with “We can only do what we can do.” And then, I proceeded to enjoy my weekend.

“Enjoying my weekend” included, but was not limited to:

• Judging a game tournament.
• Watching the new DuckTales cartoon (and Star Wars: Rebels and Care Bears) with Team DiVa.
• Going to the State Fair
• Playing too few video games.

Fast forward (or would it be “rewind,” in this case) to this morning. We got the prep work out of the way for the influx of meeting participants with time to spare. Yes, there were a couple of glitches, but on the whole, we were done and life was good.

A few minutes after the presenters got started setting up for the day, we were informed that they were changing the configuration of one of the meeting rooms. Okay, fine. Whatever. Then we were informed “why” they were doing it: In the original configuration, only one of the projectors in that room was activated. That was news to me, but it didn’t preclude them from making the room work. As this news was being relayed, a coworker started laughing to himself. Naturally, I asked why. He proceeded to tell us that he knew of this idiosyncrasy.

I’ll pause here to note that he was here last week when we were setting up the room, but said nothing about it.

::: braincramp :::

Mischief managed. And external ire restrained.

The morning wore in afternoon with out much further ado. Thankfully.

And then, I saw this article: Toys ‘R’ Us could file for bankruptcy this week.

I was struck with a sense of nostalgic sadness. One of the first things that went through my mind upon reading the article was the childhood glee of trips to the TRU in Catonsville with either my mother or father. We may not have gone weekly , but there were definitely a lot of trips there. For me, those were the days of The Adventure People, Micronauts, and electric trains (mostly Tyco, when you could buy a decent train set – or just pieces – at your local toy purveyor). I remember asking my father to drive down “the roller coaster road,” a hilly back road ending at the Toys ‘R’ Us parking lot, which – if you went just fast enough – would send rollercoaster-like butterflies into the pit of your stomach. I remember wandering the aisles of the store, while my mother shopped at a clothing store next door. Hell, I still remember the 1970s commercial jingle – the long version.

Roughly a year ago, there were three (3) TRU locations in the Salt Lake Valley. One closed last November, the other closed a few months ago. The lone remaining store is down the street from my house. Yes, I still go there, but it’s not just for me, these days. Over the past couple of years, I’ve noticed the quantity of some toy lines diminishing, while others have… not-exactly “flourished,” but at least survived. But it hasn’t felt like the same store that I used to visit as a kid for a long time. I’m sure that a fair portion of that is attributable to having gotten older.

There was no mention plans for the chain to close in the article, but like so many things, perhaps its time is nearing an end.

My inner kid still hopes that’s a long way off, though.

Saturday – 02 September 2017
Today started off with sleeping in. Until after 9:00 AM. (Those of you with kids understand what this means. Those without, just nod, smile and move on.)

Team DiVa’s fall session of ballet classes started today; they have advanced to “Elementary” from “Beginner.” They were also excited about their new uniforms. (BONUS!) Their teachers is one of the BW dancers, who recognized Sara immediately, when we dropped the ladies off at class this morning.

After their class was done, Sara and the ladies dropped me off at the comic shop, so that I could judge today’s HeroClix tournament. We had a great turnout and there were some good matches. Sealed events – buy boxes of figures and make a team out of what you get – can be kind of a crap shoot, so I was pleased that there were good matches in each round.

Next, a trip to the nearby pet store. Team DiVa has declared their wish for fish for their birthday. This was a part expeditionary run/part “We want to show Daddy pets in a/the store, since he didn’t see them the other day when we went” trip. We were successful on both counts. WIN!

A little while ago, we went to Home-Away-From-Home Depot to purchase a new dishwasher. Yay, home ownership! The one we have is on its last legs and has probably been one foot in the grave, one foot on a banana peel for the past year or two. Mission accomplished.

Okay, hold up a minute. Wasn’t the title of this post something about “Vent” and “Wrath?” So far, this seems to be… rather… well, mild. And nothing really worth getting upset over.

Which brings us to…

On the way home from Home Depot, there is an alternate route we occasionally take, which cuts through another neighborhood near us. We took that route today. Driving down the street, we saw a little kid – three-ish, MAYBE – on a balance bike. Standing at the studded corner of an intersection. Alone.

Kid.
Corner.
Bike.
Intersection
Alone.

I’m going to give those a moment sink in.

Back?  Okay, buckle up. This is not going to be pretty nor easy to read. Sorry.

We pulled over and I got out to talk with the little boy. He pointed across the intersection – across the busier, non-residential street – to the dog (not on a leash) that had run across it. I asked if it was his dog. He just pointed and said “Dog!” I looked back down the residential street and saw a man and another small kid on a bike, two or three houses away. I yelled down and asked if this was his kid on the bike, he acknowledged that it was and started walking in our direction. About the same time, a gentleman came out of the house on the corner and started walking towards me, mostly just assessing the situation unfolding outside his house, which is totally understandable.

The man and Kid 2 got a little closer. I knelt down and pointed towards them, telling Kid 1 (at the corner, but a little farther from it now), ” There’s your dad,” hoping that he would telepathically pick up on the “Don’t play near the street, go back to your dad” vibe I was projecting.

There was a gentleman in a car, approaching the intersection from the residential street, who looked out his window and said, “Thank you” to me. I just nodded and continued to point the little boy to his father.

At the same time, the dog decided to run across the road.

I missed the initial hit, but turned when I heard it, in time to see the back wheels… you know.

Not going to lie: I recoiled.

I looked at the dog, lying in the street. Then, my initial thought was to keep the kid from looking into the street, as I was beginning to suspect that it was the family pet.

The father and Kid 2 drew nearer and I asked if it was their dog. He asked “Black and white,” and there was no further doubt about it: Family dog.  He looked past me and just repeated, “Oh, no…” He walked out into the street and picked up the dog’s body… as Kid 2 started back to the corner to follow him. I shouted at the kid to “…come back this way.” The father, returning to the corner, started yelling at the kids about how he told them to stay in the driveway and not go down the street.

Issue #1: These kids were three-ish/four-ish. Who the Hell lets a kid that young just wander off – let alone on a bike – to the busy intersection?!

As if that wasn’t enough, he started blaming the kids for the dog not only getting hit, but dying. There was really no way to misinterpret his words on that one, especially when the phrase “…is why the dog is dead” was used.

Issue 2: Are you kidding me?!  Blaming the kid for the dog getting hit?! A kid whose sense of self-preservation is undeveloped. A kid who doesn’t know that his dog is going to follow him, wander around – even across a street – then realize, “Oh, hey! My human is over there! I should go there!” How about you keep track of your kid and make sure that he’s safe. While you’re at it, you might want to keep an eye on your dog, too. Just saying.

Once the father and two boys walked down the sidewalk a little way, the owner of the house on the corner approached me and noted that the kids were often up near this end of the street/intersection and just walked away, shaking his head.

::: DEEP BREATH :::

Sometimes, I feel that I might be a little overprotective of Team DiVa. Years ago, we made sure that they knew just how far down our driveway they are allowed to go. (This rule has changed slightly in the past two years, but when we ask the girls, they know what their limit is.) We have emphasized the importance of staying with or near an adult with approaching a crosswalk. We have set and maintained rules about walking in parking lots, whether busy or not.

After seeing this situation unfold, I think that Sara and I are doing just fine.

I don’t like playing “The Balance Game,” but while I’m sad that the dog (needlessly) lost its life, I’m ecstatic that it wasn’t the little boy on the bike.

tl;dr – I saw a dog get hit by a car this afternoon.

Tuesday – 04 July 2016
Today is Independence Day.

I hope that everyone had an enjoyable holiday.

Once again, Sara and I decided to go the “find a hotel overlooking a fireworks display” route. She tracked down a few potential locations last week and came up with a winner in North Salt Lake – which, for those of you not in Salt Lake City isn’t simply “the northern part of Salt Lake City;” it’s its own independent city. Go figure.

We picked up the ladies from summer daycare yesterday and we were off…

We went to Bountiful Greek Cafe for dinner (site of an EPIC meltdown on the part of one of the ladies) and then to Bahama Buck’s for sno cone desserts.

Then it was off to the hotel… which was just down the street. We got to the room and Sara surprised the girls by announcing that we were going swimming. (There were a couple of stunned little faces who thought the idea of swimming was good… but didn’t know what they would swim in, as they didn’t know that Sara had packed their swimsuits.) Off to the pool!

I’m sorry. That should have read “pool… and James Brown’s Celebrity Hot Tub.” From there, it was back to the room to get the girls cleaned up and mostly ready for bed. An hour or so later, the fireworks display started; this year’s fireworks were over a golf course in North Salt Lake and we had a great view. The show lasted about 30 minutes and was better than Sara and I had anticipated.

This morning, we got up – “a bit” earlier than Sara and I had hoped – got ready, checked out, and went breakfast at a nearby IHoP. After breakfast, we dropped in on Sara’s parents for a few, to say “Goodbye” to Sara’s sister, Melissa, who was in town for the weekend. We followed that up with a trip to a park near our house, so the girls could teach us how to play “Double Dots,” a game they’ve been raving about for the past week or so. They did. (Sara and I won. Surprise!) The girls played a bit more before it was time to come home and have lunch and some quiet time. We also celebrated our freedom to make a pilgrimage to The Garden of Sweden in the late afternoon. We wrapped up the day with some grilling, a DC Superhero Girls movie, and sparklers.

All told, it was a great way to spend a family holiday.

Wednesday – 31 May 2017
I’ve gone on the record – many times over – saying, “I love my kids.” And, it’s true. Parenthood has been… an interesting experience, but one that I wouldn’t trade for anything.

What I would like to trade, however, is the lack-of-sleep that Team DiVa occasionally affords me.

Case in point: Last night…

I got into bed about midnight (early night for me…).  I read and chatted for a little bit before I realized that I’d been doing a lot of extended inner-eyelid studies. So, I decided that it was time to call it a night and go explore The Dreaming.

And that’s just what I did.

Less than an hour into sleep, I woke up because I felt a weight on the bed, by my legs. I turned to find a kinder-form sitting on the bed. Staring at me. Too groggy to do much more than grunt, I motioned for her to come up and get under the covers. She did. A few minutes later, she was ready to head back to her room. She asked if I would carry her back to her bed; I told her that she could walk. (C’mon… I was all snug and comfy in bed.) She climbed down and ambled back to her room. I fell back asleep.

Some indeterminate amount of time later, weight on the bed. Again.

This time, there was a bad dream involved:

“Can your body parts fall off?  Like your crotch and your bum… can they fall off?”

“No.”

“Oh.” *crawls under the covers and falls asleep*

At this point, I was relegated from the comfort of half a queen bed… to approximately one-sixth. For the rest of the morning.

Let me clarify a few things: I love getting cuddles from my kids and welcome them whenever they are given… especially since I know that in a few years, there is a better than average chance that they won’t be nearly as freely given. On the flip side, I like my sleep. I don’t usually need a lot of it, but I do like it.

But, there I was: Doing the delicate balancing act of not falling off the bed and not squishing my kid.

Oh, and not sleeping well.

Thus, I’m here at my desk… mainlining my coffee, wishing that I could just configure it into an IV drip.

But, it was totally worth it for a kid who slept soundly and at peace.

Namaste.