Posts from — November 2005

On my previous post you saw how much I love when my wife cooks Thanksgiving dinner for just the three of us the day before Thanksgiving. Mommy Bacchus (MB) took off work on Wednesay and started cooking Tuesday night. I told her about my post and how much I was looking forward to it when I saw all the pots and pans flying around the kitchen. I am banned from the kitchen during cooking unless it’s to clean something. MB is a “Food Snobb.” Nothing I cook is ever good enough since she can always do it better. I left for work Wednesday smelling all the fix’ins being prepared and anticipating the end results.

While at work I get a call from MB asking me to pick up some liquor on the way home. I asked, for who? We don’t drink a great deal of liquor. She said her mother was coming over for dinner. Now this didn’t bother me. My mother-in-law frequently comes over the night before thanksgiving and cooks a bunch of desserts at our house because she likes my wife’s kitchen (yes she is also a “food snobb”). Usually she doesn’t show up until 9 or 10 at night after the rest of us have already had dinner, but I was curious why MB was asking me to bring liquor.

I got off work early and stopped by the liquor store and picked up a couple of bottles of this and that. Almost got killed in the store parking lot when some drunk was arguing with his girlfriend/wife while backing their car our of a parking space and not looking back. I got home and before I could put my bags down MB is asking for the liquor. I knew something was up so I asked what was the rush. MB stated that her mother was on her way with some other people.

Oh GOD NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

I went into a panic and tried to compose myself. Right away I noticed MB rushing around the kitchen just like she was preparing for the President to dine with us. Everything had to be just right and this was exactly what I was trying to avoid.

Stay tuned for more –”How to destroy a dinner in 30 seconds”

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. I love sitting and having a pleasant meal and being surrounded around family that loves me. It always gives me a reason to be thankful for the previous year and reflect upon goals I have yet to achieve. Unfortunately, the one thing I hate is “House Hopping.”

My favorite Thanksgiving celebration was one where I didn’t necessarily spend with the majority of my family. It was a year where Mommy Bacchus (MB) and I decided to not travel to visit our respective families. Instead, we stayed in our college town and invited an international student from Africa as our guest. The three of us sat, ate and enjoyed explaining American football to our visitor. There were no attitudes, emotional outbreaks, food emergencies, stress or drunken cousins to spoil the evening. Although I missed my family, I didn’t miss all the extra stuff that has a tendency to ruin the holiday experience. Since Bacchus Jr. (BJ) was born, MB has refrained from cooking at home, and we have instead scheduled a packed day visiting friends and family. The problem with doing this is that everyone wants to eat around the same time of day, Midday. So how do you visit four different homes and eat four different times during the hours of 12pm-4pm? If you don’t eat enough at one house, the host gets offended. Eat too much at the first house, and then you don’t have an appetite for the rest of the day. Fail to eat early in the day, and you may get to a house where there’s nothing left but picked over parts of the turkey you don’t like. Or on the other hand, you may visit a house that planned to have dinner at 2pm and they just put the turkey in the oven at 1pm (Saw this on Gray’s Anatomy last night). Since we started “House Hopping” I have given up planning to watch any particular football game in one location. One of my thanks has to go to my DVR. I can record all the games and watch them at my leisure that evening or over the weekend.

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MetroDad
MetroDad writes a cute post about our childhood memories. See the comments where I included my own memory list.

Many of us have family and friends who we trust to watch our children, but what do you do when you have to go outside of that comfort zone. We found that our local hospital nurse and daycare center are wonderful resources to find quality sitters of infants and toddlers. When we had our first babysitter come to our home, I found myself constantly writing notes each time she came so I began to create a document that would need a little editing and I could print it out when needed. I used a template from a software program I had on my pc to get started, then I found a pullout from parenting magazine that was a nice addition to my notes. The link below is from a November 2004 article
Parenting.com Pullout Article

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My wife, Mommy Bacchus, is starting a new job in a couple of weeks and turned in her notice to her existing employer. Her existing boss requested the Human Resources department to conduct a search for possible candidates to replace her. The Human Resources department came back and replied that they could only find one person from outside the company who was qualified.

It was the resume of my wife……

Flickr: Photos from Lord Bacchus

I started a flicker account. How cool is this. Come check out my photos….

Song from school concert insults blacks, father says - Blogging Baby - www.bloggingbaby.com _
I posted the below comment on Blogging Baby Blog.

The song should be pulled and school officials should go through mandatory sensitivity training. How could someone be so blind to offensive language in a slave song. What was acceptable in the 50’s should no longer be acceptable this century. Many times I don’t agree with issues raised by the NAACP, but this one seems right on. I wish people would wake up and smell the racism.

Our country has a horrific racist past, and what’s it going to take for America to realize that actions like this can be emotionally painful to a large subset of the population.

FAQ from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
I obtained this idea from the CFO (Chief Family Officer) Blog. Interesting notes and facts for this day.

Last year when my son, Bacchus Jr. (BJ), was three, I was watching him play on the jungle gym at McDonanld’s. I heard him say something that started me thinking.

“Follow me”

BJ was leading a couple of kids climbing up the side of one of the structures. Was my son going to grow up to be a leader or a follower? I became proud watching him order and organize the play activities, but would this continue in life? How do I teach my son to become a leader?

My initial thought was that I have to teach him how to be a follower, then he can start learning to become a leader. Honestly, it was the first moment I started to witness my son’s personality and it pleased me. Now I have to start cultivating his nature and make him the best man he can be. Unfortunately since that time, I have been knocked off my high horse and watched him get sent to the office at daycare, pick on younger children and be a disruptive force during soccer practice. Who said fatherhood was going to be easy???

I’m up to the task, so let the games begin…..

Christmas morning sleep tip: Give books - Blogging Baby - www.bloggingbaby.com _
A wonderful idea to separate the books from the toys without the books getting lost in the wrapping paper….