4 Happy Family The personal blog of Kevin R. Hoffmann

Mellow Friday

Work was a neverending stream of meetings today. I was able to get out on time. As soon as we got home we turned around to go to the inlaws for pizza. We (meaning I) had not seen them for a while. We (C) gave Maya a bath over there and then she read (C's Dad read) her new favorite book: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

It is a really interesting book with a lot of great illustrations. Uneventful evening, we were in bed shortly after Miss Maya.

Train Update

After I signed off last night the kid in front of me threw his juice at me as I was leaving. I talked to his Mom and she seemed pretty indifferent about the whole situation, like she just wanted it to be over (her train ride, not her parenting tenure). You know how sometimes you can make a snap judgement of a person? Well, she seemed pretty young, had a neck tattoo of Tinkerbell and looked a little rough around the edges. She seemed in over her head a little bit.

 I know I will probably be on one of those neighbordhood web sites, but I couldn't resist:

More tales from the train

I didn't think I would have something to write today, but thanks to a precocious 2-year old sitting on the seat in front of me as I write this;  I have a little bit of content.  Situations like this used to annoy me. You have a little kid that has probably been traveling for a while is now forced to sit on a train and be quiet in a commuter car with all of the old stoic adults winding down for a day.

The problem is, the kid is a spitter and a screamer; he keeps leaning over the back of the seat while I am surfing the web doing work. The Mom is trying to control him but he is also a squirmer. She is very composed and speaking in a soft voice. No real threats, she is just trying to have a modicum of dignity. Funny thing is, it is hard to hold your head high when your kid is spraying all over the place and yelling at the top of his lungs.

 I am really tempted to take a picture, but I think that would be weird.

Me: (click)
Lady: "What the hell are you doing taking pictures of my kid?!?"
Me: "Uh...I have this web site that 6-7 people visit and I was writing about how cute your son is....er...I wanted to upload a picture of him to my website...uhhhh..."
Lady: (Pepper Spray)

 Train rides home are always an adventure -- only 3 more stops.

Randomness for this busy week

First off: My new favorite blog

We had our social worker visit on Monday so tht she could check out the house and make sure that our meth lab has all of the required smoke detectors, carbon monoxides alarms and ATF tripwires so that we can continue with our second adoption. We have a great realtionship with our caseworker; we can joke around with her and say things most people probably would not. Courtney left out an "Over the Hill" bag that her friend gave her for her birthday. It was filled with gag gifts that were probably not social worker firendly which led her to lead the caseworker quickly out of the room.

The best exchange though:

CW: So guys, everything looks great. Nothing new has changed? No new firearms or big guns introduced into the house since we last met?
C: (looking at me) ...
Me: No, we are clean
C: (Disappointed) "I was waiting for you to say: 'Only the ones up my sleeves' as a response."

Damn. I must be slipping.

Here is your picture for the day. (It just makes me...smile. It also goes along with the guyliner from last week)

Weekend Roundup

On her actual birthday I tried to get out of work early to catch the train. We were meeting her parents at our house for sushi. I missed the early train due to a confrence call running long. When I was about 15 minutes from our station we heard over the intercom from the conducor that an Amtrak train had hit someone on the other track going into toward Milwaukee.

Apparently the train I should have been hit this woman as she was trying to cross the tracks. Pretty sad stuff. I have been on the train twice when it has hit people (one suicide, one trying to make it through the crossing). For the suicide I was in the front car and you could really hear it under the train. I feel for the conductor as well, being unable to stop hundreds of tons of machinery in time has to be pretty gut wrenching.

All in all there was a three-hour delay while the investigation took place. Luckily we were stopped next to a Mariott so I could piggy back on their free wifi. Besides the somber mood, it was an enjoyable evening.

 Swim class was Saturday morning. Maya is really taking to the water even though she hangs on for dear life around my neck. We had people over that night and went out to dinner for C's birthday. We spent the day cleaning only to have the house trashed in the first 15 minutes betwee people bringing the outdoors in and a a posse of two-year olds bezerking through the downstairs. We have the best babysitter, though. She took it all in stride and watched 5 kids while all of the parents went out.

Sunday was spent recovering from staying up late. We cleaned up from the night before, made dinner and actuallly watched a movie together after the kid went down. (Not a bad flick. It is great to see Christain Slater as a mid-life office drone wanting to go postal. The receding hairline he sports is worth the price of admission.)

Big work week coming up, things are well.

Mmmmm….Wisconsin Cheese Curds

C and I were watching a special on PBS the other night called the “Annotated Idealism of the Secular Theocracy in the Baroque Era” (OK, OK, it was American Idol) when there was a young lady on there that was just about to turn 17 years of age. I made the witty remark about her being half as old as C. Well it was not true then, but today I can say it with complete honesty that today is my lovely and talented wife’s birthday. 

This is actually the 14th one of these I have had the privilege of being apart of with her. Yes, it is true I used to buy her alcohol in college (but that was after her foray into Jello wresting – so it was not my fault) and in a couple of years we will actually have been together longer than we have been apart, but it just amazes me that time flies so quick. 

Now, this is where I get all Velveeta on my wife. If you need to look away, feel free to go read about this. 

It is funny, quite weird how quickly I fell in love with her. She is my best friend and the keeper of all my secrets and foibles and insecurities. She knows when to give, take and push. She can laugh at me, herself and the world around us in a way that makes me admire her and be proud and lucky to wake up with her every single day. She truly has a heart of gold, a whip-smart wit and a profound sense of humor.

When we were dating and before I moved off to Chicago I worked at a grocery store stocking shelves. Bigelow tea was in Aisle 3 and they had a promotion that had a 10 minute phone card promotion gummy glued to the outer packaging. Every day I would steal one of these and call her from the pay phone at my break. At night I wanted her to be the last voice I heard before drifting off to sleep. (This was before nationwide cell phone plans; I still owe my Mom for picking up those calls.) This was the impact she had on me.

Now it is her birthday. We often talk about how the dynamics of people and their relationships change as they grow older, how children and finances and the stress of life change people. Not really change, but mold people for better or for worse. As long as I have known her there has been this little spark of flame inside of her that was never extinguished through life. Sure there have been times where it has grown small and fluttered in the breeze, but the furnace keeps on going. (sometimes creaking when it first lights in the morning).

This is what I fell in love with so long ago. She has this glow inside of her that shines without fail. And on her birthday, this very special day, I am appreciative that I get to be a part of her life. I get to follow this light down the many paths of life experiencing the beautiful vistas, the scary monsters and all of the other mixed metaphors like this sentence.

Every year I get to spend with her makes me a better person; it makes me take stock in myself. I would not be nearly happy with myself and my growth if I did not have her to attribute this to.

So, to you I say Happy Birthday. I cherish the love I have for you and look forward to the many roads we will travel together, together all the way.

PS – If you want to giver her B-day wishes feel free to leave a comment below or send an E-mail to court74 sbcglobal.net; make sure to put the “at” sign after the 4. (Spammers crawl the web looking for E-mail addresses on sites such as these; sorry for throwing the Rosetta Stone at you.   

Things I actually had to think about today

• Guyliner – (See picture below) Come on. Seriously? I guess I would try it out if it really brought the hazel of my eyes out. I may even be inspired to do a little Emo cutting. (Who am I kidding, I probably would have worn it in college.)
• Consumer vs. Prosumer – (I went to a tech conference at Northwestern University yesterday for work. I had to listen to a panel of people spouting techno-babble and synergy talk for an hour. It was as if Benny Hinn was channeled and substituted the term “synergy” for the term “Jesus”. I am trying to irk my colleagues by figuring out how to work this into everyday usage Let the bodies hit the floor indeed.
• Each one is a precious little snowflake - How can you actually defend this as 1st amendment. Yikes, love living in Sueocracy. Gave me flashbacks of the MO MySpace case. What happened to letting crickets go in the hall or locking the front doors to the high school if you wanted to pull a prank.

Roller Girl

C and I have been talking about lately how Maya seems to have grown up quick behind our back. Ever since you are young you always hear the phrase “They grow up so fast” or “Before you know it, they will be off to college”. These are phrases that I always thought people just said to fit in socially and aren’t really true just like “You can’t get pregnant the first time” or “Sub prime mortgage – Sign me up!”.

Well, we are hitting that first plateau where we are coming to grips of an aging toddler. The picture below was taken the other night in our kitchen.

Crap! Wasn’t it just 3 weeks ago we uploaded the video of Maya taking her first steps? Now the kid is in roller skates. Next, she is going to be running the point on the Chicago roller derby team throwing elbows and hitting people hard enough to knock them senseless. I can already see the Hunanimal tattoo on her arm.

This really has taught us about how fleeting everything is blah blah…..time is like sand through our fingertips…blah blah. But, it is true. How precious these moments are and C and decided to make more of a concerted effort to think about, enjoy and live in the moment.

On a whim, just found the web site for the Windy City Rollers. I am so getting her one of these toddler Tees when they are back in stock. (Doesn't it just scream wannabe Dad trying to seem cool through his daughter? Munchausen Puma by Proxy?)

Walking in a winter wonder “if I am going to sue after I fall on my butt” land

So, I decided to take drastic measures this morning on the way in to work and broke out the second piece of the ultimate dork running outifit. Behold the splendid visage of the suburban snowshoes:

These are called YakTrax and they sip over your regular shoes to provide traction and support, They really are great for running, but the also help out for bad icy conditions. I tried to take pictures of the sidewalk to give perspective, but thee shots turned out a little shaky since I was using my phone. This is the only one that does not induce vertigo. That channel in the middle is the sidewalk/ice flume:

I was able to get up and run this morning which felt good. It really warms the core through the day; even though around 2 PM I get a little tired. The sun is also out this morning which is nice; it usually makes an appearance as if to make up for the itter cold weather I get to face in about 10 minutes when I walk in to work. The WC was -20 this morning for the walk to the train.

Man, I am sounding more and more like an old man. It seems like I am constantly bitching about the weather, icy sidewalks, body hair and aches and pains. Come to think of it I yelled at some kid to get off my lawn last week. I do not have an urge to refute any school referendums so

I must still be somewhat youthful.

What I have been following lately (Entertainment Version):

• Blogography: Really the gold standard for me for someone that blogs. He does a great mix-up of serious and sublime and is always entertaining. Good read and great graphic designs

• American Family and Do They Have Salsa in China and Chicago Mama: I check these out to feel a little love for others that have completed China adoption or are family blogs I relate to

• Explosions in the Sky: Words can’t describe how amazing this music is; been following them before Friday Night Lights and forst head them on KEXP in Seattle

• Perry Bible Fellowship: Simply amazing

• Between the Bridge and the River: By TV personality and author Craig Ferguson. Just finished it and it was a very humorous read.

• The Office: Best show on TV and not just because I used to hang out with Jenna Fischer. (My only ever brush with someone famous; unless you count the time that sat across from Chelsea Clinton at a bar in St. Louis)

• Dr. Natura: I have been wanting to do this cleanse for a while. The site is a little graphic

That is about it for now; glad I got to ramble for 10 minutes while my train pulls into the station. If I ever get around to making a blogroll; I need to add these.

Nightmare

Don’t you love those days where you can count the amount of sleep you get on one hand? Maya had a nightmare last night and we brought her into out bed for the first time to sleep between us. This meant taking the dogs into the other room (so they don’t jump up on her) which means that you have to take them downstairs and outside first, which means standing in a T-shirt and boxer shorts in 5 degree weather while they run out and take their sweet time doing their business.

After getting them settled and crawling back into bed C was able to get Maya to calm down a little bit. She said Maya had been trembling in her arms while was out (trembling in the garage) tending to the dogs. After a little while and a bottle to hep soothe her nerves Maya became playful.

Not once has she ever slept the whole night with us. For whatever reason she thinks it is play time whenever we are in the same room as her. This has affected vacations and boosted the coffee bean business by about 0.08%. For the couple house she was in there she would alternate between rubbing my back (awwww) and doing leg presses on it. We finally took her back into her room where she slept peacefully and slept-in late.

Myself, on the other hand, was not so lucky. I forgot to turn my alarm back on again and woke up late in a frantic haze rushing to get to the shower and trying to keep quiet. I ran out the door and hit the sidewalk and slid about 5 and a half feet. We had 40 something weather yesterday which had melted a ton of the snow which is now a sheet of ice on all of the sidewalks. When the snow gets this deep it create channels from the snow throwing and there is a little canyon of ice that forms in between. Just like the Grand Canyon in reverse.

I stepped out caught myself and walk-ran/scurried/flailed up the hill to the train station. You know how you think you are moving along well then all of a sudden a leg shoots out and you feel your body tweak and stretch awkwardly? Me too.

So, being the smart guy that I am I decided to walk in the street which was clear of ice and snow. The problem is that most suburban drivers are not really awake in the morning and not expecting a half-awake person to be ambling up the street at that time in the morning. So they would see me and jerk over a little bit. Yes, I am not too smart for walking where I was walking, but it was better that having a bruised coccyx. (That word is fun to say in your head; sounds like a Norwegian death-metal band.)

This rant is better articulated in the Spring when I can actually run outside again, but people are not used to seeing other people walking/running/riding outdoors. I always assume that they can see me, but I also assume that people are awake.

I refuse to run on the streets any longer and resorted to wearing specialty gear because of these morons. I put on my dork light (which Maya and I use for Sesame Street rave parties – again a story for another time):

And I run to the forest preserve for a quiet bit of morning serenity.

Made it to the train station and it was a “good” tired day meaning that I was able to caffeinate and focus on work without interruptions. (Raising coffee bean production by another .03%)

Maya has not been sleeping well lately at her naps. She wakes up inconsolable about half the time. We really feel for her but we are trying to walk the fine line of being concerned and placating the drama queen. Hopefully, it is just a phase.

Sorry for the ramble; this is a president’s day I will never forget. (Not really, just had to chuckle because I don’t think anyone ever linked those two disjointed phrases together and it will be fun to see if I get any Google hits.)