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HouseDad "improves" furniture, Mother Unit takes back credit card...
2008-03-03 03:14:00
I was posed with a dilemma upon moving into our new house. Our media room doesn't have a light fixture in it. Oh, it had a light switch on the wall, but after trying the four outlets located on each wall, we discovered that none of these outlets were actually controlled by the light switch. Good ol' new mexican electricians. Okay. I thought I had solved the problem by putting a torchiere in the corner next to the couch so we could turn the light on while sitting down. The light itself is connected to a little box that transforms the light fixture into a "touch light" of sorts just by touching any metal on the light. Good enough for this lazy american.But then I realized that my and the Mother Unit's eyes were beginning to suffer from eye strain. The problem: there still wasn't enough light in the room to watch tv easily.  Also, the spot that the torchiere was in prevented us from having a place to put our drinks (read: late-nite margaritas) while watching the ol'...
More About: Television , Card , Credit , Furniture , Tech

Never thought I'd say that...
2008-02-28 01:11:00
So just a few minutes ago, my mom comes home from work (she's been living with us for the past few months until she gets a place of her own, which should be next month) and says that she wants to take the little gremlin for a walk. I'm like sure, its nice outside and its been in the 50's for the past couple of days, so why not. We both get Adriana situated in her stroller and as they are leaving I say "Be back by sundown." WHAT! I actually said that to my mother!? That's awesome. Never in a million years did I ever think I would tell my mother to "be back by sundown." I had a little giggle to myself about that one and thought maybe you would too. Have a good Wednesday.
More About: Thought

A simple plea to the Blogoshpere...
2008-02-23 05:32:00
So, if you are a reader of fellow blogger RebelDad, then you are in the know regarding a recent article concerning SAHDs on this site. I won't go into details, but apparently there are a lot of angry parent bloggers out there. And I am one of them. The nerve of this lady, a miss Lindsay Ferrier. Although I have her personal blog tabbed in my browser right now, I am not going to leave any sort of evil, hateful garbage in response to her article. That would just give her the satisfaction of having yet another blogger bash her thoughts only to have those same thoughts responded to with a snide, smart-alecky remark. Just by typing her name in this space has increased her already high presence in Google. Instead I send out a plea to the blogoshpere. Fellow Stay-At-Home-Dads, and Moms for that matter, listen up:Its hard enough taking care of our little ones and finding time to socialize with other humans without the phrases "Did you go pee-pees?" or "Is my little gremlin h...
More About: Simple

Thoughtless Thursday: So...what the hell is this?
2008-02-14 18:17:00
I was clicking away on the old internets earlier this morning and came across this picture: This is supposed to be the "new" KITT for the newly-recycled Knight Rider series due out in a couple of months. What the hell? A Ford? A MUSTANG? Now most of you know that the original was an early `80's Trans-AM, which was a pretty futuristic looking car in a world full of Yugos, Crown Victorias, and Cadillacs. Christ, I think a baby angel just died. I'm not sure how much better a concept I could have come up with, but I certainly know I could have done better than this as a replacement for the original KITT. I will reserve any and all bad thoughts concerning the actual show itself until I see the 1st episode. Until then, here is a picture of what the real KITT should look like. Enjoy and have a great Thursday .
More About: Television , Tech , Hell , Goodbye America

Jell-O Bone Syndrome: Time to call the priest
2008-02-10 00:25:00
So, what is it with kids and their ability to go completely limp when you try and pick them up? Its like my daughter's bones have been replaced with jell-o. This new, "jell-o bone syndrome" we'll call it, is also somehow linked to the vocal cords and the more jell-o like the bones become increases the decibel level to which the voice can reach. Say, for instance, the little gremlin is at the park and you've been patiently waiting for her to poop so that you can take her home and change her butt. The instant you say " Its time to go, your butt smells like a landfill." so begins the screaming and the jell-o bone syndrome. Now not only do you have a ragdoll screaming at the top of her lungs in your hand, you also have a shitty diaper in face as well. This effect is amplified to astronomical proportions if food or a favorite toy is involved. Like when its time to put down the toy you errantly gave to her while grocery shopping that you don't intend on paying for....
More About: Time , Syndrome , Call , Bone , Priest

Music that's good for the soul...
2008-02-07 01:18:00
In all its forms. A new post in the music section. Enjoy.
More About: Music , Soul , Good

Cat Domination
2008-02-03 05:21:00
So I caught my little gremlin and the house cat on video today and thought you all might need a pre-Superbowl chuckle. Enjoy! It takes a second to load, but it is well worth it.
More About: Domination

Thoughtless Thursday: Now who's the prettiest girl in school?
2008-01-31 16:13:00
I am! I am! 
More About: School , Girl , Thursday , Goodbye America

Yo Gabba Gabba: Attack of the Housedad Doppelganger
2008-01-25 19:03:00
Upon the advice of fellow SAHD Joeprah and my good friend Danielle, I introduced my child to the infectious wonderment of Yo Gabba Gabba , a children's show on Nick Jr.  I found some older episodes on Comcast on Demand and decided I would give it a shot. Holy Christ, I don't think I have ever had so much fun watching a children's show. The songs that are played on this show are beat-heavy and engaging. The music will bore its way deep into your skull, set up shop, and send signals to the rest of your body to jerk and gyrate uncontrollably. I giggle constantly at my little one as she moves and shakes to the `80's-infused hip-hop beats. The characters on the show are super colorful and the different segments with these monsters always has some sort of life-lesson involved. Stuff like learning how to brush your teeth or not to cut in line. Then there's the host of the show: DJ Lance Rock (Lance Robertson of west-coast indie music fame) I look at him and I think: Were we separa...
More About: Television , Doppelganger , Attack

Invading the interwebs...one site at a time.
2008-01-23 19:16:00
Hey readers! Wow, I haven't written a post in a few weeks and it feels a little funny. Hell, I forgot my login info to my blog its been so long. Anyway, I have been extremely busy since the 1st of the year. Some of you may know that I moonlight as an amateur web designer in the wee hours of the morning. My programs of choice have been Dreamweaver, Flash, Kool Moves, and FileZilla as my main ftp client to upload content. I just started doing this sort of work last summer and have learned quite a bit in that amount of time. If any of you are interested, check out this sweet program I found for use with google analytics. It is a stand alone program currently, in beta, that can help any budding blogger/ web designer like myself. Here is a link. There are many other versions of this type of software, but I find this one to be the most user friendly.I have been working on a couple of sites that are now live and you all should check them out! Give me some feedback on them if you feel like...
More About: Time , Tech , Site , Home Improvement

I Can Iz Baby Pwned.
2007-12-28 16:28:00
Happy Friday Everyone! This picture shout out is directed towards my good buddies Ace & Jared. Please read this post on their site and then the picture makes all the more sense. To anyone who may not find this all that funny, check out this site (I Can Has Cheezeburger.) Then you'll realize just how big a dork I am. Have a good weekend! 
More About: Baby

Elmo Monster: Invader of homes, Destroyer of minds.
2007-12-24 16:57:00
Here he is: The little red monster that has invaded my home and set up shop in the deep recesses of my subconscious. I sing his songs while sleeping, taking a shower, making dinner. He is on my television. On my floor in the form of a plush animal. He was not willingly let into the home, but the sister-in-law bought this for Adriana a few months ago and now I can't even go to the grocery store without my little one pointing at every Elmo she sees. Do you know how many products this little bastard has his face plastered on? At least two to three products in every aisle. Next time you go, check it out, you will be pleasantly surprised. So anyway, as you all may very well know, I am a die-hard Sesame Street fan. Being an only child, I learned not only how to share and play nice from this show, I also learned that one must say "Ah-ah-aahhhh" whenever counting anything. I also learned that Jim Hensen's son doesn't quite have the magic that senior did. He's good, don't get ...
More About: Television , Toys , Minds , Homes , Monster

Becoming a man...finally.
2007-12-18 21:06:00
I installed a dishwasher in our kitchen the other day, and let me tell you, it was possibly the hardest thing I have ever done. Seriously. I didn't know that you had to do electrical work in order to get the machine operational. I just figured it came in a box, you took it out of the box, and you plugged it in. Oh no. It couldn't be that simple. I knew I would have to splice a water line under the sink, and that was the easy part. Hell, removing the old cabinet and cutting holes for the water lines was easy too. Then came the part where I had to strip power cords to bare wire and connect it to the junction box on the dishwasher itself. I said a little prayer to myself and told my family I loved them before I started. Most of the time, I am deathly afraid of anything more complex than plugging an appliance in. The funny thing is, I used to work in a high-end lighting store and told people all the time how to install track lighting and the such. Detailed instructions. Not a single c...
More About: Finally

Fellow House Dads!: The Perfect Gift for the Mother Unit...
2007-12-11 04:49:00
Hey all. I have broken one of the cardinal rules of blogging and left my post unattended with new material for more than a week. Whoops. But for those of you who have been waiting for days to witness the genius that is House Dad, then you will be in for a treat. This particular posts is aimed at the fellas, although the women folk can benefit from this as well. As a matter of fact, anyone with a heart can use this one. Not to say that women don't have hearts, but..ahh...um...crap.Let's restart.  Good evening fellow SAHD and SAHM and all parents in between. I have a sweet gift for the mother/ father units in your lives that may need a moment away from the home. Get Out Of Jail Free Cards. Take a look... I plan on giving the mother unit Lori a dozen of them. These cards will entitle the bearer to a full 8 hours of baby and husband immunity. Now you may say "But my significant other goes to work 8 hours or more a day during the week already. Why the hell should th...
More About: Gift , Mother , Perfect , Unit

HouseDad Chronicals: Back in Business
2007-12-04 06:13:00
Hello All! I finally got my internet connection back up. Now I can get back to plaguing the internets with more dribble about my personal life. REJOICE! I don't think I've ever been as tired as I was a few days ago ever in my life. We filled up a 26' U-Haul truck three times and finally got everything into the garage of our new pad. Lori cut out early on moving the heavy stuff, so I rustled up a couple of able-bodied friends and we finished up. I have a garage! For cars! Every single house I have lived in in Santa Fe (I am at 6 and counting), the garage was converted into a drafty, mold-ridden "office/ work area/ bedroom" and they sucked ass. Now I'm in the new house and I appreciate the fact that I have enough rooms in the house to actually use the garage for what it was meant for: a place to escape, grab a beer, and sit on an old couch that slides across a concrete floor. Awesome. Only a couple of problems though. One could be major, but we'll see. I buckled under t...
More About: Business , Smoking , Back , Sine

Goodbye Internets, it was fun.
2007-11-29 07:24:00
Well, not really goodbye. Caught you attention though, didn't I? My internet connection gets turned off tomorrow and it won't be back up until next week after the move. I'm typing on my trusty laptop in a room filled with empty huggies diaper boxes that are labled "office." Did I mention that I love being a father? I'll update you all on my future living conditions once I am bestowed a smooth internet connection at my shiny new house. Going to bed for the last time as a renter w/ very little debt; waking up as an owner w/ a shit load of it. Goodnight.
More About: Goodbye

Everyone is sick
2007-11-26 15:48:00
Hey all. The mother unit and I have both just recently gotten over some sort of 24 hour stomach flu. Then the littlest girl received the head and throat version of it. The entire house has been this cesspool of nasty left-over tissues, empty tea-bags, and stinky bathrooms. I will spare you the full account of my family's explosive rear-ends. Besides all that nastiness, I'm still smoke free and I absolutely LOVE Vick's Vapor Rub Tissue Paper. I guess I switched from smoking menthols to huffing menthol-scented tissues. And here I said I didn't want to substitute vices. I'll write more before the move. Oh! We are closing on our house on Wed. and will be moved in by this weekend...hopefully. Otherwise, if the loan doesn't go through we'll be homeless, since we have until the 1st of Dec. to be out of the rental unit. Please send good vibes this way. 
More About: Sick

I SAID NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
2007-11-20 16:04:00
This past weekend was decidedly the hardest I have EVER experienced. And not just because I'm trying to quit smoking. It was especially hard because I am trying to quit smoking AND deal with a 17 month old who decided that she wanted to hit those so-called "terrible twos" a few months early. Like half a year early. We had a stare down the other day that could have been substituted into any Spaghetti western and it would have blended in seamlessly. Crap. I wasn't ready for her to start expressing her will so adamantly so quickly, but she's good at catching the mother unit and I off-guard. For instance, we were convinced she wouldn't start walking until she was at least a year. 8 months out of the womb, and she is stumbling around in a very non baby proof house. Stopped eating baby-food at 9 months (I don't know how she knew the difference, but she let us know!) Said "no" to breast-feeding at 12 months. Learned how to say "no" and use it accordingly ...
More About: Smoking

I think I saw a flying pig on Thursday...
2007-11-16 15:49:00
Because I said when I saw one of those mythical beast I would quit smoking. I've been smoke-free for about a day and a half now and I was gonna post something about this yesterday, but I was...a little edgy. I've been smoking since I was 13 and my 28th birthday is coming up next Tuesday, so I figure its time to quit. More than half of my life has been spent smoking and I find that hard to believe, but the truth it is. My lady has been nagging (read: "coaxing") me to quit for a few months now. I know she is right but the thing is I like to smoke. I enjoy it. I am also fully aware of the dangers of smoking ranging from a heavier breath while chasing a toddler around a house to cancer, which means death. A painful and scary death at that. However, I was never at a point in my life where I needed to quit smoking, until now. I guess it took 17 months of fatherhood for me to realize that my life is much more valuable to my daughter than it is to me. She needs me to be here for...
More About: Flying , Smoking , Thursday

No, I'm a stay-at-home-dad, not a veteran. I'm never "off" work.
2007-11-13 05:53:00
Its like I woke up from a work-induced, late-night funk and came back to reality. Six days and no post. I have all of these things I want to put from fingertips to keyboard, but its all this muddled-jumble of diapers and computer screens. But earlier today, I had salvation. Salvation in the form of high-definition and cookies-n-cream ice cream. I have been reading for the past week or so on the interwebs that Toshiba is planning on dropping the price of their HD-DVD players to $99. That's right. NINETY-NINE DOLLARS.I've also been reading that Walmarts around the country will have indefinite supplies of these items, as well as Best Buy. So, 11 days after the un-advertised "sale" went on, I decided to trek out, daughter in tow, to the local outlets to test my luck. (BTW, I had also been reading that people are close to throwing punches at Walmart because of the scarcity of these discontinued items. Another good reason to wait. I don't need my daughter witnessing her dad f...
More About: Toys , Tech , Home , Work , Veteran

Day 5: Fall off the bone goodness.
2007-11-06 15:12:00
Hey everybody! Man, its been a long couple of days. I missed putting up this post over the weekend because we had a garage sale. We made tens of dollars. It was awesome. I also had a work deadline as well as a daughter who desperately needed to go to the park. Anyway, here is a quick pic of the last dinner of the week: Pork Ribs w/ carrots, sweet potatoes, Yukon gold potatoes, and cornbread. I said it already, but this was the best meal of the week, hands down. So I guess my experiment for last week was a success. I spent just under a $100 dollars and my family ate fairly well for the week. I think for this week I will spend a little bit more and make sure that my ladies don't have to eat the same kind of meat two days in a row. Doing this sort of thing isn't a huge step towards cutting down my family's environmental impact, but it is a step. I realized that it is not just about saving money and cutting down on bills. Hell, if everyone tried to spend less on food, even by just a ...
More About: Goodness , Bone , Fall

Day 4: Whoops.
2007-11-02 15:18:00
Sorry guys. I made dinner last night and as I was taking the last bite, I remembered that I was suppossed to be taking a pcture of it. Whoops. By I will NOT forget for tonight, because we are having ribs w/ slow cooker sweet potatoes and carrots. This will by far be the best meal of the week. Also, I forgot to leave the carrots in the vegetable crisper and they got all wilty sitting out. I had to go back to the store and by some yesterday. $1.97. So, I'm still just under the 100 dollar mark for the week and its Friday! So I guess it can be done. Although I did have to keep my snacking to a minimum, which is a good thing and a bad thing I guess. The meals for the week weren't all that hard to make (although last night's cranberry-fig chutney was damn good and I had to keep an eye on it to get the right consistency.) So, instead of a tasty pic of some good food, here's a stomach-churning video. Enjoy! (This happened right in Santa Fe. I'll be driving a lot less on the rural farm ...
More About: Goodbye America

Day 3: Chicken!
2007-11-01 18:22:00
Yo. Last night in the 3rd day of my sub-$100 weekly food budget, I made chicken parmesan. I forgot that I made italian-esque food the night before and subsequently the famliy will be eating pork twice in one week. Whoops. Today is my moms birthday, and she loves ribs, so that's what I'll be making. Here is a quick pic of last night's meal: I ended up not using the side dish as described in the first post because I'll be using all of the ingredients for that with ribs. Yum.
More About: Chicken

Day 2: Ravioli never tasted so good.
2007-10-31 05:31:00
Hey all. Here's a quick little snapshot of dinner for the evening. I had to run to the damn co-op today to pick up some parmesan cheese for tonight's dinner, and surprisingly, it was cheap. Relatively. I bought a .29lbs. of the yummy cheese for $2.32 including tax. Not bad. If you read the post from Monday, then that means I have around 6 bucks left for the week for misc. items. Don't get me wrong, I'll spend more if I have to, but I'm gonna try and see if my family and I can live comfortably for $100 or less. They have become my subjects in this penny-pinching experiment of mine and luckily they think its a worthy experiment to undertake. Here's a pick of the littlest lady in the house enjoying dinner. See ya tomorrow!Notice the dog sitting behind the littlest lady humbly waiting for just the tiniest morsel from the diminutive princess. Said morsels will later be puked onto the light colored carpet behind the dog. Damn dog.  
More About: Ravioli , Good

The Sub-$100 grocery bill: It can be done.
2007-10-30 02:51:00
Okay. My wife and I have just signed the papers for a new house. Yeah! We will be broke for the next 30 years. Dammit. Hence the lack of posts in the past week. So, in my continuous quest to keep our bills down, I believe that this week I have finally found the right combination for a sub$100 Whole Foods bill. All organic. All local fruits/ vegetables. All yummy. My final bill at the checkout stand was $91.38. Sweet. This is how I did it:Some of you may remember a post that I put up earlier this summer concerning my trips to the local co-op. My conclusion: I'm not rich enough to spend $250 bucks a week for groceries, the people who work/ shop there are snobs, and lesbians hate me. Now remember. I am feeding a family of four (Lori my wife, Adriana my daughter, my mother, and myself) a home-cooked meal for a 5-day work week. We tend to eat out on the weekends, mainly to give me a break from cooking all week. Also, the cost of living in Santa Fe, NM is high. Really high. The Albe...
More About: Bill , Grocery , Done

Can't find your kid? Break out the GPS.
2007-10-27 03:25:00
Okay. I was browsing the internets a few minutes ago and HAD to post this. I came across this GPS jacket for your kid. That's right. For your children. If you lose your child or your child decides to go AWOL and didn't leave a note behind, this jacket has a GPS locater in it. The jacket will send its location to a "base station" of sorts and then that station will alert your cell phone of your missing child's location. U.K. based-company Bladerunner is the maker of this device ironically. I would have figured that the US would have pioneered this sort of tech, but those silly Brits surprised me again. Does anyone else think that this is just the beginning of these chips going in all of our clothing and the government watching your every move, or am I just being paranoid? And what the hell ever happened to just "watching" you kids anyway? I don't think I could rely on a piece of machinery to tell me where the hell my kid is. That's just being a lazy parent.
More About: Tech , Break , Find , Goodbye America , The G

Return of the Boogie Snatchers
2007-10-22 20:22:00
Some of you readers out there may remember a post I put up a few weeks ago about my daughter's obsession with her nose. Earlier today I was getting lunch ready for Adriana and I hear a giggle come from the living room. I turn the corner and I see, I kid you not, my daughter put her finger up her nose. That same finger is then thrust at the dog, who in turn sniffs and then licks said finger. MY DAUGHTER IS FEEDING THE DOG HER BOOGERS. Holy crap, I haven't laughed this hard in a very long time. My daughter is just giggling away while the dog, Sharley, licks the end of her booger-laden index finger. I wish I had caught that on video because I would have loved to show her this in like 15 years. I thought you all would enjoy that. Priceless.
More About: Return , Return of the

Two in one day? Damn, you guys are lucky...
2007-10-19 04:03:00
Actually, I'm the lucky one because Lori is watching Adriana, while Adriana is half-watching Blues Clues/ torturing the dog. I thought I would throw up a video I made right before dinner today. Enjoy!
More About: Guys , Lucky , Damn , Two in One

Go-to-work-mom invades stay-at-home-dad's blog
2007-10-18 16:39:00
Yo. So most of you have surely noticed that I haven't posted anything in almost a week, so to make up for it, here is a post by my lady, Lori. She and Adriana recently went to an apple orchard and had a great time, unlike a fellow dad blogger I know (sorry Joe.) Unlike Joe, however, I opted not to go and stay home. In case you wanted to know, I had a beer and played Panzer Dragoon Saga on my recently acquired Sega Saturn. Anyway, here it is! With pictures of cuteness included: "So it's fall! My favorite time of year. A time when you can actually enjoy being outside. We've been taking advantage of these beautiful days by taking walks, hiking in the mountains, etc... This weekend Adriana and I went to our good friend Sadie's home in Chimayo, NM. (Yes, New Mexico has fruit trees. It's not all desert!) Her mother has an apple orchard just a couple of miles away on her B&B lot. Adriana not only got to learn how to say "apple", but that apples actually come fr...
More About: Home , Work , Blog , Stay

A new recipe...finally.
2007-10-12 17:43:00
I finally put up a new recipe in the Food Section. Check it out. I think you all might like this one.
More About: Recipe , Finally , Ally , Reci