Chick Flicks for Slick Ricks

Having just got done watching The Jane Austin Book Club, a movie my wife managed to sneak into our NetFlix line up with out my knowledge, chick flicks is the topic on my mind. While my favorite type of movie is an epic period piece preferably involving some sort of war, I have on rare occasion been known to indulge my wife and sit through a movie where the target audience most likely has significantly less back hair than I. On even more rare occasion I have even been known to enjoy a movie of this genre. A fact that I blame entirely on my father. While I do not want to go into too much detail as to why I blame my father, I fear it may be entirely too embarrassing for him, I do not feel it would be saying too much to admit on his behalf that he has been known to shed a tear or two during a movie. While off the top of my head I cannot remember a specific instance of it I know it happened...and if pressured can find eye witness accounts to support this claim. It seems that I too, albeit to a lesser degree than my cry baby father, have been known to at least derive some enjoyment out of the occasional chick flick. I thought I would list a few of the chick flicks I have actually enjoyed watching and I would be interested to hear from other men as to what chick flicks they have watched that they actually enjoyed. I am not terribly interested in hearing from the chicks out there on this subject matter but would welcome it if they chose to tell me about a movie that the man in their lives liked that would fit into this genre, especially if you think they may be embarrassed by you sharing it with me. I actually am not that terribly embarrassed to admit this small thing about myself...a fact I blame entirely on my father. Here is the beginning of my list. I will add to it as I think of them and will add yours to the list if I agree or at the very least can type it without laughing at you.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Pride and Prejudice ( Kiera Knightley version)

The Notebook (Also starring Kiera Knightley..a complete and utter coincidence)

Riding in Cars with Boys
About a Boy
The Lake House

Make Tonight a Steak Night!

Having come under recent criticism for the lack of recent posts on my blog (clearly the demand for what is on my mind has been higher than anticipated). I decided to dedicate this post to one of my biggest fans and someone I consider to be one of my best friends. Mr. Travis Stokey and I have very little in common really on first glance but we share one important thing in common, a love of meat. Early in our friendship I was lucky enough to take part in one of his family traditions while my family was out of town. Every Thursday night the menu is the same at the Stokey residence! Its steak night! A secret marinate, carefully developed over years of steak grilling experience is prepared, the grill is fired up to just the right tempature, and some USDA Choice Black Angus steaks, bought on sale at a local Harris Teeter, are cooked to order on the Stokey grill. It is as predictable as the rising and setting of the sun. How thankful I am to have been able to share this tradition with his family one summer evening. We have been friends for quite a while but I was only invited that one time....but that is a topic for another post as the pain of never having been invited back is still too near to speak about. Since meeting Travis not a Thursday goes by in my life where I do not think to myself tonight is Steak Night! So do yourself a favor and make tonight a steak night in your home and when you do think of Travis Stokey, the man who started this wonderful tradition, a tradition I was only invited to share with him that one time despite our many years of friendship. And if you happen to be passing through Charlotte, NC and are looking to sample some of the best barbeque around..skip all the places you have seen on the Food Network and stop by the Stokey residence for some Boston Butt cooked on the Stokey smoker by a southern boy who knows how to cook meat. For Travis Stokey's talents do not end at cooking steak...he can also cook some of the best pulled pork around. As if bringing steak night to the people was not enough!

One of these things just doesn't belong

I had an interesting experience last night while assisting a member of my church load up a moving truck. As we were approaching the house I was warned by a friend that the house was not likely going to be very clean and that I should be prepared for that. As we arrived at the apartment complex it was clear that this was not the best part of town. As we entered the apartment, despite the warning of my friend, I was taken back by the extreme filth that I was witnessing. The floor was covered with everything you could possibly imagine and perhaps a few things you may not be able to. I have no words that could possibly describe the situation to you more adequately so I will not even begin to try. As we were in one of the bedrooms my friend and I had a private moment and he whispered to me that he thought that he may have underestimated the conditions when he had tried to prepare me for it. This was a single mom with three children, the youngest two being six year old twins. They were being evicted by their landlord for reasons that at this point are probably quite obvious. It was sad because despite ample warning the mother had failed to find another place for her children to call home. Even as we were loading the truck she was unsure where she would be staying that night. A family member had offered to let here stay for a short while but she was still considering a local homeless shelter. I felt incredibly sad for the children who were being raised in such conditions and being put in such a position by a parent. Its one of those experiences I will likely not forget for the rest of my life. As I was in the kitchen empting off a stand to be loaded onto the truck the mother was standing amongst all the filth washing the dishes. At that moment I thought nothing could possibly appear more out of place. As it turns out I was wrong. When I returned to my task of cleaning off the stand I found a copy of Consumer Reports that had just been uncovered by my efforts. It was the How to Clean and Care for Practically Anything issue.

Eye of the Tiger!

This post is perhaps 99% of the reason I decided to start a blog in the first place. I am fast approaching thirty five years of age and have been looking at my life perhaps with a bit more of a critical eye. Assessing my progress, assessing my talents, assessing whether or not in twenty years when I look back on my life I will be happy with the path I have chosen. While on the one hand I feel I have made a great deal of progress in my life considering where I once was and where I came from there is still a part of me that is not content with the person that I am. My current frustration can best be summed up by one small thing I don't like about myself. I on occassion have been known to drink a Diet Coke or two or three at work. Not a huge problem and one that I immediately felt better about after reading a few articles about people who drink a twelve pack a day. Some days go by and the Diet Cokes I drink that day may be the only liquid I put into my body. No big deal right? Diet Coke is 99% water anway! I have stepped into the ring on many occasions to put an end to Diet Coke once and for all. So many times in fact that my wife just laughs it off each time I tell her that I am done drinking the stuff.

There are two things that bother me the most about my inability to stop drinking Diet Coke and those are the health concern and the simple fact that I can't seem to do it. The health concern is probably the lesser of the two. It would be first if not for the many health benefits of drinking Diet Coke . What really bugs me the most is what it may say about me as a person when I apparently lack the will power to make such a simple change in my life. This is in part why I started this blog. I was feeling the need to do something that completely does not sound like me at all hoping that in the process I would learn a thing or two about myself and make some of those small changes in my life that I have been meaning to for years, to take a chance on my career in the hopes of doing something I am truely passionate about, to finally take action on one of the many ideas that pops into my head rather than just talking about it, to discover a new hobby and develop a new talent, or to simply become a better person. With those thoughts in mind a couple of weeks ago I once again decided it was time to lay off the Diet Coke. The rules were simple...no Diet Coke during the week. If I choose to have one on the weekend I am free to do so. 99% of the Diet Cokes I drink are at work anyway. Since the start of this latest round I have been drinking an incredible amount of water. Who knew that drinking water could make you feel so good? If someone could figure out how to bottle that stuff and sell it they would stand to make a fortune. While I have had a few slips... I am two weeks into this and it is by far my most successful attempt yet. Who will be the Clubber Lang or Rocky in this scenerio? Diet Coke or Water? It will likely come down to whether or not I have the eye of the tiger"! .

Mr. Mom 2008

For the past four and half days I have been trying to fill my wifes shoes as she is soaking up some sun on a much deserved trip to the beach. This has become a tradition in our house and it accomplishes a few important things. It gives my wife the afore mentioned well deserved time off, it totally gets me off the hook for Mother's Day, and it also reaffirms for me just how challenging a job being a stay at home parent really is. This last one is important because it seems that each year that we do this I seem to have more kids than the last time and thus any previous experiences I may have had in filling her shoes must then be thrown out the window on the basis of change in scope or scale. My wife of course conveniently failed to mention the magnitude of the change this time around until the very last minute possible. The last time I attempted this trip we only had three kids and now we have five with two of them in school and two others taking classes at Lands End two days a week.

I must admit that I actually look forward to it each year...I consider it a challenge, a test of my parenting skills, a me versus the parental elements, there can be only one survivior sort of challenge. This years challenge appears to becoming to a conclusion without any major incidents..no lost kids, missed appointments, or broken bones to speak of. Everyone got three squares a day and diaper changes within the acceptable time thresholds I have carefully developed over time. We even managed to squeeze in some fun despite the uncooperating weather. We had a great day down in Dubuque,IA at The Mississippi Aquarium followed by a five star lunch at "Old McDonalds" and the discovery of a fantastic park, The Mines of Spain, which has an amazing overlook of the Mississippi. We stopped at various playgrounds along the way home and completed the day with Devon actually using the potty instead of his pants to take care of business. An event which actually shortened our stay at the last playground when I caught him going into what can only be described as stealth mode where he disappears off the face of the Earth for a while to take care of the business and suddenly reappears when the mission is accomplished. So a great day no matter what way the media tries to spin it!

While on the one hand my kids and I are anxious for my wife to return again ,as is the case every time she goes away for more than an evening, I am at the same time wishing this years challenge could go on a little longer this time around. Having just spent four and a half days in the life of my wife I can honestly say that running this household is as difficult as any senior management job could ever be. This is of course not news to me at all..but it is nice to have myself reminded of it every once in a while. I think the real reason I want this to go on for a little while is because I have seen myself over the course of five days improve on a much needed lack of patience despite the breivity of the situation and I also got to experience for a prolonged period of time what I think may be what motivates my wife to do what she does and I just want to spend a little more time taking that in. My experiment had a start and an end date making it easy to keep motivated and keep the energy level where it needed to be but a real day in my wife's life has no such end date, at least not in the near future. The reality is that as the non stay at home parent...I will only get so many of these types of experiences in my life and I need to take them all in. I also need to convince my wife to take a few more trips to the beach which I am pretty sure will not be a problem.