Tropical Storm Fay
So, here I am, in Orlando on vacation. Two great days of Disney parks. Third day, and tropical storm Fay is heading in to town. So far not so bad, some wind and rain, with the worst to come tonight and in to the late evening.
August 18, 2008
Vacation in Florida
I am on vacation with the family in Orlando. Visiting Disney, and you might have heard a hurricane is hitting the Florida keys right now. Guess where the latest storm track has it going? Yep, Orlando. Right over the top.
More later...
August 14, 2008
Chupacabra Video
Below is a recent video a sheriff in Texas took of the chupacabra. As some of you know, I am very interested in this beast.
This video could be the chupa, but it also might JUST BE A DOG!!
August 11, 2008
Parenting Dave-Style
Recently we had an incident where a child, a friend, was not so nice to one of our children. I relayed the issue to David and told him what I told the kids to do if something similar should happen again.
This is Dave's follow-up:
Dave: You're a Dobrindt. If someone is mean to you, you tell 'em "Go pound sand!" or say "Do you want a piece of me? (pounding fist into hand) I don't think you want a piece of this!"
I look forward to many calls from the principal and angry parents.....
Random Family Pictures
As many of you know, I love taking pictures. With our multiple digital cameras, we can take thousands of pictures and just delete ones that don’t work out. It’s great. Below are 11 random pictures from the past 2 months, in no particular order, and with no real rationale for why I picked them, other than they reminded me of a very specific and enjoyable moment.
The one below is from the view of a little kid who is about to step off a ladder at 12 feet above ground using a recently installed zip line. I have some great videos I need to post. The kids LOVE the zip line.
"I’ll post again from the emergency room”
This is a strange picture of Emerson (2) having a hard time deciding between two beds. Earlier this summer it was time to put away the crib and move a bed from Emily’s room into the boys room. It was fun and Emerson had a good time when he realized his crib was gone and there was a twin sized adult bed.
"Either one I pick, I’ll sleep wherever I want”
This past July Patti took Emily (6) to NYC to meet up with me on a business trip. This is Emily wearing a 5 dollar bought-in-Central-Park pair of sun glasses. She might lack many things, but confidence is not one.
"Future super stah”
This is Finely sleeping off a hangover.
"Too much catnip”
When Emily came in to NYC, her and Patti had a great time while I was at work. Near the end of the day, I met up with them at FOA Schwartz. This is the piano from the famous scene in Big.
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"You should see the video of her”
Right outside FOA Schwartz.
"Great store to visit”
Ethan turned 4 on August 5 so we had a mild birthday party for him the Saturday before. This is him with Katie, a really sweet girl he calls his “girlfriend”. When he found out she was coming to the party, he did a strange kind of happy dance.
"One of his girlfriends”
This is Patti’s brother Drew with the kids and his girlfriend’s two boys. Taken July 4th weekend on Long Island.
"Uncle Drew”
Another shot of the zip line.
"About to jump off the ladder”
The three of us before heading out to a “fancy” dinner in NYC.
"We went to a nice Indian restaurant”
Emily looking at herself in the mirror at the hotel before heading out for the day. Again, she does not lack confidence.
"You can’t see her dancing to music from my laptop”
August 10, 2008
Disney World Countdown
Less than a week until our family trip to Disney World.
Next Saturday I am flying with my wife, three kids and my wife's parents (from boston) to Orlando. We are meeting up with my parents, who are driving from Atlanta, on Monday. We are going to be in Orlando for 8 nights and in addition to the theme parks plan on heading to the Kennedy Space Center about an hour east of Orlando for a day trip.
The kids are EXCITED as are the parents.
Let the count down begin.
PS. Ethan is 44 inches, so he is good for most rides. Emily is 52 inches, so is good for all rides.
Disney, here we come
August 09, 2008
Emerson
Since we are sharing funny stories, here are a couple starring Emerson (2):
Our home is very "lived in". We have a dining room set I got from someone on Craig's List because it looked... sturdy. The table has held up well to beatings with spoons and various "craft" projects. The chairs have not faired as well. Ethan has destroyed the caning on the chair backs as only a 4 year old can and the fabric on the seat covers is just falling apart. So I decided to make some seat covers for the chairs.
Normally I would just unscrew the seats and staple gun new foam and fabric on the seats. But the wood also needs to be replaced on most of the chairs because the screw has stripped the wood and no longer holds. To save time and money I just stitched up some quick covers for the seats. I hadn't made ties to hold them on yet because I wasn't sure if I liked the look of them.
Well, Emerson refuses to sit on the covers. He pulls off the cover and throws it on the floor. (Only the cover for the seat he wants to sit on.) Its annoying! I thought it would be a good plan, the seat covers could come off to be washed. My kids spill occasionally ...ha ha. Well it is no use if Emerson keeps pulling it off. I'm not sure why he's doing it, maybe he doesn't like the color. I'm going to attach the ties and see what he does then.
Danimals
Emerson LOVES yogurt drinks. If he could, by which I mean if I would let him, he would drink a package a day. I'm glad he likes them, they are healthy, and he is a skinny boy who can use all the calories he can get. But sometimes we run out.
Well, I had run out of yogurt drinks and was trying to avoid going to the supermarket. It seems that no matter how few items I go in for I always leave at least a hundred dollars later. So I was holding out, mixing GoGurts with milk to try to appease him. It wasn't working.
After many requests (demands, very loud demands) for a yogurt drink I told him we were out. Emerson was NOT happy. He decided I was a naughty mommy and I needed a time out. He dragged me to the time out chair and tried to put me in it. I guess I wasn't doing my job of keeping a well stocked fridge.
August 08, 2008
Clean Rooms
Last week Patti took a few days off and went to Nantucket with a girl friend. She flew down early Sunday morning out of Boston and came back Tuesday afternoon, so I had the kids (ages 6, 4, 2) for three days. When we got back from the airport on Sunday morning I decided to lay down some ground rules with the kids for the next two and a half days. And one rule was that each morning they had to pick up their rooms, make the beds and put things away before they could play or watch TV or color and stuff. So I lined them up, Emily, Ethan and Emerson in order, in the kitchen.
Dave: Ok guys, I want you to go upstairs and clean your rooms before we do anything else. Understood?
Emily (6): Yep
Ethan (4): Yes
Emerson (2): Yogurt drink
I then said “go” and off went Emily and Ethan, enthusiastically running out of the kitchen, through the dining room and up the stairs. Emerson kind of looked at me funny.
About 10 seconds later, I heard them bounding DOWN the stairs. I wasn’t even sure they made it to the landing at the top of the stairs.
Emily and Ethan: We’re done!!
I was skeptical, but didn’t want to call them out right away. Although knowing the state of their rooms before I gave my order, and they would have had to do something pretty amazing to clean up in a few seconds, I could have been wrong.
Me: Are you sure? If I go up there, your rooms will be straightened up? Beds made? Clothes put away? Books put away? Toys in their place.
Ethan: Yeah, I swear dad, it’s done.
Emily: I cleaned it earlier.
I was going to give them a warning, something like if the rooms are not in fact clean they could not watch TV or something, but didn’t want to start my three days off on a bad note. So I went up to their rooms, saw that Emily’s room was indeed fine, and instructed Ethan on what I mean by “clean”. For a 4 year old boy, the term “straight” and “clean” have little meaning, something right above no visible signs of a rug and right below the room looking like it was searched for gold by a zealous robber. Ethan put some toys in a box and slid it under his bed, so he thought was good to go, so he might have stretched the truth but not exactly lied.
August 02, 2008
Zipline
We got a 100 foot zipline for the backyard. I'll post more from the hospital.
Dave
July 30, 2008
Man dies in freak fishing accident
This has to go down as one of the most bizarre stories of the year. And if I were the cops investigating suspects, I would take a hard look at the fish.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lifish0730,0,600348.story
July 17, 2008
Bobby Conn
Bobby Conn, where have you BEEN all my life? And when are you coming to Boston, it can't be too soon.
July 08, 2008
The Best Advice I Ever Got
Good article in Fortune Mag about advice. The piece asks 25 well known people about the best piece of advice they’ve gotten. I like getting advice, even if its not asked for, so that made me think of my own advice.
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fortune/0804/gallery.bestadvice.fortune/
Advice that I follow...
1. Always do the right thing, especially when its not the easy thing. Every person knows right from wrong when making a decision, and they should always do the right thing, in work, in school, in a relationship, in anything.
2. Always be polite because you never know who you are being rude to. I remember in graduate school an older guy in a fancy car cut me off in the parking lot. He waved an apology and instead of giving him the finger, I waved back and smiled, indicating “no problem”. About 10 minutes later I was being introduced to the new Vice Chairman of the university who just joined after a long career at Morgan Stanley, and since I was a graduate assistant, my new boss. It was the guy in the parking lot.
3. Humor is better than anger. In tense situations, I think people respond better to humor than screaming. Unfortunately, I don’t always follow this with the kids. The greatest leaders I have ever met, anywhere, always had a pleasant way about them.
4. Take personal responsibility when you fail. If something bad happens to you, like losing a job, getting a bad grade, not making a sale, having trouble in a relationship, there is no one to blame but yourself. Evaluate why it happened and what you can do in the future to avoid it again. I am big on accountability and HATE HATE when someone never accepts his or her own fault for failure. I hate the philosophy that it is always someone else’s fault. Hate it.
5. Become clear on facts. When bringing up something, know your facts. Make sure you have a story straight when talking about something in the news, get numbers right when bringing up stats, etc. People see through BS very easily.
6. Always go down swinging. My father used to say this to me when I played little league baseball, to never look at a third strike without swinging. I apply this at work all the time. If I lose a sale or something appears doomed, I make sure I do every thing in my power so that I can sleep at night knowing I gave it everything.
Anyway, those are some of my principles. I have other things in my life that are important, but they are more personal, like holding the door open for a woman or letting a female get in an elevator first, and sticking up for others who need help, or show some humility when others give you something. But advice that I would give to someone I mentor at work, it would probably be around the six things I mentioned above.
Good night and be well.