First of all - Geana and I have been dreading the decorating this season. The quads are three and the boys will wreck any and everything that gets in their way. What's the point of decorating if all of your decorations are going to get destroyed??
As you may know - we got our Christmas Tree two weekends ago and not decorate it when we got it home because the Steelers were playing a big game against the Patriots and we had to give our undivided attention to Big Ben and Fast Willie at 4:15 sharp. So - our tree has been sitting in our living room for a week... naked (except for the Terrible Towel that I hung from one branch but promptly removed after the game.) This weekend, the plan was to decorate the tree. Geana stayed up at her sister's on Friday night so I cleaned up the house (after I watched my alma mater win the PA Class AAA State Football Championship on PCN!) I broke out the decorations on Saturday morning, awaiting her return. The kids were psyched! They couldn't wait for Mommy to get home and for us to start decorating. Well.... turns out Daddy made a slight miscalculation - we weren't decorating until SUNDAY! Oops.
Needless to say - the kids were quite miffed - so James took it upon himself to do a little decorating all alone. I put a bottle of nail polish on the steps as I was cleaning the night before (to take up the next trip up). I had completely forgotten it was there and in all of the celebration of the Jags winning the States I seem to have left it there. Oops again... While we were in the kitchen getting ready for the day, James grabbed the bottle, opened it up, and started painting our couch. When I caught him, he said in the most innocent of voices, "I was just decoratin' for Christmas - Daddy." Grrr..... Every mistake that I had made in the past two days was brought to fruition with his painting of the couch. I promised decorating today - wrong. I left the polish on the steps - wrong. I wasn't paying attention to who was in the kitchen while we were getting dressed - wrong. And now I had a wonderful PURPLE couch to show for it.
Sometimes things just don't go your way.
Showing posts with label rants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rants. Show all posts
Monday, December 17, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
The Morris Report
I feel compelled to give my 2 cents about this thing.
Unless you've been living in cave - you know what happened in Major League Baseball yesterday. Former Senator George Mitchell came out with his report, commissioned by MLB, to address the Steroid issue in baseball today.
Don't get me wrong - they'll never get rid of steroids, greenies, etc. There isn't even a test for HGH because the body produces it naturally and everyone produces different amounts at different ages of your life. What Selig doesn't get is that, currently, he's trying to save face instead of turning this issue around breaking the union up. For years the union has controlled MLB and right now Selig holds all of the cards but he doesn't realize it. He needs to fine the owners and GM's who willingly knew that players that were using to make him "seem" unbiased. Then he needs to go after the players...
Unless you've been living in cave - you know what happened in Major League Baseball yesterday. Former Senator George Mitchell came out with his report, commissioned by MLB, to address the Steroid issue in baseball today.
Honestly - MLB can't do anything right. The way this report is structured and published, there is clearly a big window for players to claim slander and that the two or three main "informats" are lying. Yes - they asked the players to participate and the players declined - but that was the BRILLIANT strategy that was structured by the Players Union because they DIDN'T HAVE TO PARTICIPATE. What is going to be interesting is what Congress does with the report. I don't care what Selig says they are going to do b/c he ultimately won't do anything unless he's forced. Congress inevitably is going to bring up the issue of the records and statistics which will be fun to watch. The whole thing is rooted in the anti-trust exception which gives Congress control over EVERYTHING that MLB does (albeit indirectly).
Also - if I'm a politician - nothing but good pub for me can come from me helping to clean up a rotten game. It's a politician's dream - great publicity for them, huge media coverage, visible impact in something that people care about. (as opposed to a direct impact on something like... I don't know... education - which people care about but not as much as baseball).
Also - if I'm a politician - nothing but good pub for me can come from me helping to clean up a rotten game. It's a politician's dream - great publicity for them, huge media coverage, visible impact in something that people care about. (as opposed to a direct impact on something like... I don't know... education - which people care about but not as much as baseball).
If MLB was smart they would take the issue and split the union over it (players NOT using Juice vs. players who ARE), theoretically weakening the union and breaking their stronghold on everything from collective bargaining to steroid testing. If I'm Selig I say, "Clearly we have a problem that we have to fix - but I can't do it alone. I am pleading to the individual players who don't cheat, and who also want to clean up our game, to work with MLB and to rid our game of this poison. If you're not a cheater - join with me to eliminate the cheating from your game, my game, and America's game. It's not enough to be the best athlete you can be... you also should strive to be the best person you can be. Be a role model to the children of the US, be a role model to your own children. X number of children suffered medical illnesses due to steroid use in the US last year. Help us overcome this catastrophic realization." If I'm Selig - I keep pleading with them until they come forward. Be over the top and be diligent. If nothing more - he looks like he is doing all he can and the players union is hindering him. Congress will then attack the Union and not MLB. Use Congress to break up the union to your benefit. That's too obvious, though.
Don't get me wrong - they'll never get rid of steroids, greenies, etc. There isn't even a test for HGH because the body produces it naturally and everyone produces different amounts at different ages of your life. What Selig doesn't get is that, currently, he's trying to save face instead of turning this issue around breaking the union up. For years the union has controlled MLB and right now Selig holds all of the cards but he doesn't realize it. He needs to fine the owners and GM's who willingly knew that players that were using to make him "seem" unbiased. Then he needs to go after the players...
There are players who are not using. There has to be. He needs to find them and get them to help him (or at least appear to be trying to get these guys on his side). Then he says to Congress, "I've been trying to get players and their union to cooperate but they won't. I'm certain that there are clean guys in this game, but they won't come forward. I've implemented stringent testing but it's not enough." If Fehr is getting heat from congress, Selig can promise (in a back room somewhere) to back off in exchange for something like... say... a salary cap. Granted - that's shooting high - but depending on how vigilant Congress is he could really spin this thing in his favor.
That would be my strategy if I ran baseball. There may be holes in my plan because a lot depends on Congress's leverage, but I think that will be there. Selig could even turn around and plead to congress for help. See - that's the way a witch hunts work. You need to align yourself on the side that's going to look the best in the public eye and ride it as far as you can. You'd be surprised how much MLB could accomplish with this if they just play it right. Then you use your strong relationship with congress and stance on steroids as leverage in collective bargaining.
Ok - I'm done, now. More about the kids tomorrow!
That would be my strategy if I ran baseball. There may be holes in my plan because a lot depends on Congress's leverage, but I think that will be there. Selig could even turn around and plead to congress for help. See - that's the way a witch hunts work. You need to align yourself on the side that's going to look the best in the public eye and ride it as far as you can. You'd be surprised how much MLB could accomplish with this if they just play it right. Then you use your strong relationship with congress and stance on steroids as leverage in collective bargaining.
Ok - I'm done, now. More about the kids tomorrow!
Friday, December 07, 2007
The Gatekeeper
Ok - so I'm sorry that the blog posts have dwindled down to once a week. I'll try to rectify that. That being said, I have been taking notes of funny things that the kids have done recently to share with you. Here is one from the past week...
I was doling out tangerines to the kids that I had sliced up but not peeled. I figured it would be fun to put them in their mouths and pretend that we are monkeys. Only trouble was that Anna said, "I don't like Tangerine. I'm not eating it." After a little prompting she still didn't want to have anything to do with it and the last thing I wanted to do was force her to eat something that she didn't want to eat (or play a goofy game with Daddy that she didn't want to play).
All of the other kids are playing along and after I had finished my slice, I grabbed Anna's and put it in my mouth, thinking she didn't care about it. Bad move. Talk about getting pissed off!! She immediately went into a rage that I wasn't expecting at all - complete with flailing arms, loud screaming, eyes rolling into the back of her head, foaming at the mouth, levitation, bolts of lightning, etc. My response - go into the kitchen and get her another slice of tangerine. I thought she may partake in our game, now. Wrong!! After having turned into Zuul, the Minion of Gozer, she proceeded to get up from the table with her slice in hand, walk over to the trash can and chuck it in. She turned to me and said, "Eat that tangerine, Dad." Then she stormed out to go look for the Keymaster.
I was doling out tangerines to the kids that I had sliced up but not peeled. I figured it would be fun to put them in their mouths and pretend that we are monkeys. Only trouble was that Anna said, "I don't like Tangerine. I'm not eating it." After a little prompting she still didn't want to have anything to do with it and the last thing I wanted to do was force her to eat something that she didn't want to eat (or play a goofy game with Daddy that she didn't want to play).
All of the other kids are playing along and after I had finished my slice, I grabbed Anna's and put it in my mouth, thinking she didn't care about it. Bad move. Talk about getting pissed off!! She immediately went into a rage that I wasn't expecting at all - complete with flailing arms, loud screaming, eyes rolling into the back of her head, foaming at the mouth, levitation, bolts of lightning, etc. My response - go into the kitchen and get her another slice of tangerine. I thought she may partake in our game, now. Wrong!! After having turned into Zuul, the Minion of Gozer, she proceeded to get up from the table with her slice in hand, walk over to the trash can and chuck it in. She turned to me and said, "Eat that tangerine, Dad." Then she stormed out to go look for the Keymaster.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Ho hum.
Is anyone watching the Rockies play the Red Sox? If so... do you really care about this series? I don't and let me tell you why...
The Red Sox are the new Yankees and I can no longer stand them. The days of them being the lovable underdog are gone. Their starting line-up and rotation has a payroll that teams like the Pirates can only dream of. I mean - they paid the "Japanese Giants" $51m just to talk to Dice-K. The Pirates ENTIRE payroll is $38m (USA TODAY MLB PAYROLL DATABASE). That's why I hate the Red Sox.
I can pull for the Rockies but I really don't like the guys on their team. Jeff Francis... Brian Fuentes... Yorvit Torrealba... Matt Holiday... blah.
I am just not interested.
Case in point... Geana just came up and asked if we could change the channel. I hesitated for a second (I mean - it is the World Series), I look at the score (10-1 Boston), and say sure. Now I'm watching Friends and laughing, instead of watching baseball and falling asleep.
Not to mention, laying in bed with Geana which is always nice.
Ooo - Family Guy is coming on... gotta run!
The Red Sox are the new Yankees and I can no longer stand them. The days of them being the lovable underdog are gone. Their starting line-up and rotation has a payroll that teams like the Pirates can only dream of. I mean - they paid the "Japanese Giants" $51m just to talk to Dice-K. The Pirates ENTIRE payroll is $38m (USA TODAY MLB PAYROLL DATABASE). That's why I hate the Red Sox.
I can pull for the Rockies but I really don't like the guys on their team. Jeff Francis... Brian Fuentes... Yorvit Torrealba... Matt Holiday... blah.
I am just not interested.
Case in point... Geana just came up and asked if we could change the channel. I hesitated for a second (I mean - it is the World Series), I look at the score (10-1 Boston), and say sure. Now I'm watching Friends and laughing, instead of watching baseball and falling asleep.
Not to mention, laying in bed with Geana which is always nice.
Ooo - Family Guy is coming on... gotta run!
Monday, October 22, 2007
Tough Times
I don't play the "quadruplet card" very often but I'm going to play it tonight. I've had a rough day...
Our life is tough.
Really tough. I'm not talking about the really tough stuff like successfully raising five children to be contributing members of society - I'm talking about the little stuff that people take for granted. I'm talking about the battles, not the overall war. It's generally stupid stuff that shouldn't be an issue, but is for us because of sheer volume:
Putting on coats - for instance. I have to put on FIVE coats when I go outside. FIVE... and that doesn't even include MY COAT!
Putting on shoes. I have to put on 10 shoes when I go outside. TEN... and that doesn't even include MY SHOES!
Laundry. I have wash, fold, match up, and put away laundry for 5 people - and again - that doesn't even include... you get the idea. (btw - Sunday & Monday Night Football make for a great time to do laundry... come to think of it - that statement pisses me off, too.)
Brushing teeth. I have to brush (and occasionally floss) 5 people's teeth - THAT ARE EVENTUALLY GOING TO FALL OUT ANYWAY! As if the actual task isn't difficult enough, there is the constant temptation to just not do it this time. What's one night without the brushing of the teeth?? (shhh - don't tell Geana)
Baths. Washing up 5 kids in the bathtub does a wonder on your back, let me tell you. Thankfully the people we bought the house from carpeted the bathroom before we moved in. I hate carpeted bathrooms, but in this instance it is a blessing sent from God.
However - having quads isn't all bad. How many people can take a picture like this one...
and this one...
Our life is tough.
Really tough. I'm not talking about the really tough stuff like successfully raising five children to be contributing members of society - I'm talking about the little stuff that people take for granted. I'm talking about the battles, not the overall war. It's generally stupid stuff that shouldn't be an issue, but is for us because of sheer volume:
Putting on coats - for instance. I have to put on FIVE coats when I go outside. FIVE... and that doesn't even include MY COAT!
Putting on shoes. I have to put on 10 shoes when I go outside. TEN... and that doesn't even include MY SHOES!
Laundry. I have wash, fold, match up, and put away laundry for 5 people - and again - that doesn't even include... you get the idea. (btw - Sunday & Monday Night Football make for a great time to do laundry... come to think of it - that statement pisses me off, too.)
Brushing teeth. I have to brush (and occasionally floss) 5 people's teeth - THAT ARE EVENTUALLY GOING TO FALL OUT ANYWAY! As if the actual task isn't difficult enough, there is the constant temptation to just not do it this time. What's one night without the brushing of the teeth?? (shhh - don't tell Geana)
Baths. Washing up 5 kids in the bathtub does a wonder on your back, let me tell you. Thankfully the people we bought the house from carpeted the bathroom before we moved in. I hate carpeted bathrooms, but in this instance it is a blessing sent from God.
However - having quads isn't all bad. How many people can take a picture like this one...
and this one...
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Back to Poop
Not to belabor the talk about poop, but we spent the day at Linvilla Orchards today with 6 kids (Justin was with us again) - 3 of them had diarea. I'm not sure what we were thinking...
Of course - nobody had to go when we asked before we left the house. Once we got into the van, though, the story changed. We stopped once at Aunt Lisa's house, on our way to the orchard, so that Anna could poop. She went up to the bathroom and couldn't go - so we continued on our way. A few minutes later, we were forced to pull into a Sunoco but someone else seemed to have the same problem as Anna and was occupying the only restroom for 10 minutes - before we finally gave up and left...
We got to Linvilla and took everyone to the crapper. Mind you - it was 85+ degrees out, humid, and it was the busiest weekend of the year. The makeshift bathrooms at the farm were... ripe, to say the least.
Anna pooped. James peed and convinced us that he didn't have to poop. Robby told me that he'll poop tomorrow. All other kids were in and out with no issues.
About 15 minutes later we were at the playground and Robby, on the very top of a slide, gave me a look that seemed to say - WHAT JUST HAPPENED - THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A FART!? I climbed up the slide, picked him up, and shuffled him to the bathroom. BTW - I'm sorry to all of the little children that I pushed away in an effort to get my kid.
Poop ran down his leg as we waited in line to use one of the 2 stalls at the bathroom.
Once we got in there, we decided that his underwear was unsalvageable and tossed that in the trash can. (The place smelled atrocious already so I didn't feel badly about contributing to the stench.) I cleaned his shorts as best I could and we put them back on and went on our way... commando.
As we were vacating the bathroom we ran into Mommy who was in line for the ladies outhouse. That line was much longer than the men's so I took James into the same stall that I just left with Robby. (Everyone in the bathroom who just saw me leave assumed I was coming back for more with the same kid and let me through to the front of the line - little did they know that this was James... NOT Robby... hehe.) James unloaded into the porcelain trough below and is the success story for the day. We left in under 60 seconds flat.
Back to the playground.
Robby - in the bowels of a large wooden pirate ship at this point (with lots of other little children who are wondering where that fowl odor is coming from) is having the time of his life. He's back to normal - playing and living the dream.
All of a sudden he looks over at me with a look of questioning in his eye. It isn't the same look as earlier. It was if he had learned that sometimes a fart isn't just a fart and he was trying to determine what to do. I asked him if he had to go and he said, "I think so." We rushed to the bathroom, in time for this one, and had another bout of the runs for the next 15 minutes.
After this - we left. I had enough and wanted to get to more familiar and friendly ground. Geana agreed. We went to Aunt Lisa's and didn't poop once in the 2 or 3 hours that we were there... go figure.
As far as the public restrooms count goes I'm up to about 30 of the public restrooms in Philly with only about 330,202 left to go.
Of course - nobody had to go when we asked before we left the house. Once we got into the van, though, the story changed. We stopped once at Aunt Lisa's house, on our way to the orchard, so that Anna could poop. She went up to the bathroom and couldn't go - so we continued on our way. A few minutes later, we were forced to pull into a Sunoco but someone else seemed to have the same problem as Anna and was occupying the only restroom for 10 minutes - before we finally gave up and left...
We got to Linvilla and took everyone to the crapper. Mind you - it was 85+ degrees out, humid, and it was the busiest weekend of the year. The makeshift bathrooms at the farm were... ripe, to say the least.
Anna pooped. James peed and convinced us that he didn't have to poop. Robby told me that he'll poop tomorrow. All other kids were in and out with no issues.
About 15 minutes later we were at the playground and Robby, on the very top of a slide, gave me a look that seemed to say - WHAT JUST HAPPENED - THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A FART!? I climbed up the slide, picked him up, and shuffled him to the bathroom. BTW - I'm sorry to all of the little children that I pushed away in an effort to get my kid.
Poop ran down his leg as we waited in line to use one of the 2 stalls at the bathroom.
Once we got in there, we decided that his underwear was unsalvageable and tossed that in the trash can. (The place smelled atrocious already so I didn't feel badly about contributing to the stench.) I cleaned his shorts as best I could and we put them back on and went on our way... commando.
As we were vacating the bathroom we ran into Mommy who was in line for the ladies outhouse. That line was much longer than the men's so I took James into the same stall that I just left with Robby. (Everyone in the bathroom who just saw me leave assumed I was coming back for more with the same kid and let me through to the front of the line - little did they know that this was James... NOT Robby... hehe.) James unloaded into the porcelain trough below and is the success story for the day. We left in under 60 seconds flat.
Back to the playground.
Robby - in the bowels of a large wooden pirate ship at this point (with lots of other little children who are wondering where that fowl odor is coming from) is having the time of his life. He's back to normal - playing and living the dream.
All of a sudden he looks over at me with a look of questioning in his eye. It isn't the same look as earlier. It was if he had learned that sometimes a fart isn't just a fart and he was trying to determine what to do. I asked him if he had to go and he said, "I think so." We rushed to the bathroom, in time for this one, and had another bout of the runs for the next 15 minutes.
After this - we left. I had enough and wanted to get to more familiar and friendly ground. Geana agreed. We went to Aunt Lisa's and didn't poop once in the 2 or 3 hours that we were there... go figure.
As far as the public restrooms count goes I'm up to about 30 of the public restrooms in Philly with only about 330,202 left to go.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
The Blame Game
The boys have learned how to blame each other for the bad stuff that they do. For example - when asked the question, "Who pulled out every single toy from the closet and dumped them all over the floor?" James' response will always be, "Robby." Likewise - Robby's response - "James." What to do? This is one of the quandries of having multiples. With one - we knew who to blame, it was only Sammy. I've tried interrogating them separately - attempting to have them turn on each other Law & Order style, but that doesn't seem to work with them. I guess Ice T is a much more intimidating figure than dear ol' Dad... who knew?
We don't leave them alone that often, but we do have to leave them on their own (occasionally) so that we can cook dinner, make lunch, unclog the potty, etc. The girl's are a good source of information but I don't want to turn them into NARCS or have them start blaming things on the boys because they have learned that it's okay to do that. They are definitely not as bad as the boys, but innocent - they are not. (I went into their room last night and Ella was in Anna's bed. We just moved the girls to big girl beds the other day).
The ripping out of toys, or the perpetual bad behavior doesn't bother me as much as the not telling the truth thing. Wow - I'm becoming a parent. Watching kids grow up is so much fun... even the bad stuff.
We don't leave them alone that often, but we do have to leave them on their own (occasionally) so that we can cook dinner, make lunch, unclog the potty, etc. The girl's are a good source of information but I don't want to turn them into NARCS or have them start blaming things on the boys because they have learned that it's okay to do that. They are definitely not as bad as the boys, but innocent - they are not. (I went into their room last night and Ella was in Anna's bed. We just moved the girls to big girl beds the other day).
The ripping out of toys, or the perpetual bad behavior doesn't bother me as much as the not telling the truth thing. Wow - I'm becoming a parent. Watching kids grow up is so much fun... even the bad stuff.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Falling Apart
Everything in our home is broken... no lie. A quick list of things that have broken within the past two weeks in the Morris home.
Car
*check (battery died)
Van
*check - (I backed into a sign.)
Video Camera
*check - (It fell off of the table)
Laptop
*check - (the . key has decided to unattach itself making the simplest websites impossible to get to)
Grill
*check - (for some reason (probably grease) the middle rack got A LOT hotter than the right or left and the knob melted off)
Toilet
*check - (it started running incessently and we had to replace the entire inside)
What really sucks is that NONE of this stuff is cheap. Why can't our $12 alarm clock break? Or why can't something that we NEVER use break - like the romba. I just don't get it. I'm starting to get nervous about taking the kids out of the house for fear they may come back with 9 fingers or something. Then again - all of these things broke IN our house, so perhaps getting them as far away from Mommy & Daddy as possible is the ideal thing to do.
Car
*check (battery died)
Van
*check - (I backed into a sign.)
Video Camera
*check - (It fell off of the table)
Laptop
*check - (the . key has decided to unattach itself making the simplest websites impossible to get to)
Grill
*check - (for some reason (probably grease) the middle rack got A LOT hotter than the right or left and the knob melted off)
Toilet
*check - (it started running incessently and we had to replace the entire inside)
What really sucks is that NONE of this stuff is cheap. Why can't our $12 alarm clock break? Or why can't something that we NEVER use break - like the romba. I just don't get it. I'm starting to get nervous about taking the kids out of the house for fear they may come back with 9 fingers or something. Then again - all of these things broke IN our house, so perhaps getting them as far away from Mommy & Daddy as possible is the ideal thing to do.
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