Oh yeah, I have a blog!!!

The social encounter that I fear more than kryptonite itself is bumping into someone that you used to be really great friends with but haven't seen since the day after you graduated from high school.

You start the conversation off with big hugs and, "Oh my gosh! You haven't changed a bit!"

(Yeah right!)

At first, it's all fun and giggles because you have standard issued questions you can rely on to keep the conversation flowing - Where do you live now? What are you doing now? How many kids do you have now?

(Just don't forget to oogle the photos of their kids and comment about how absolutely precious they are!!)

But after that initial data exchange, the conversation ALWAYS grinds to a painful halt as if you're suddenly talking to an absolute stranger. Why is that??? Wasn't this someone you used to be great friends with??? Wasn't the the person who you could stay up until 2 AM talking to???

10 years ago you could read each other's mind but now all you can do is stand there in awkward silence and sheepishly issue the guaranteed conversation killer, "So . . . um . . . crazy weather, huh?"

(Hmmmm, maybe I'm suddenly realizing why this person hasn't spoken to me in the last 10 years!)

Mercifully, these conversations eventually come to an end but not before one of you throws out the Ultimate Empty Promise of All Time, "Give me a call and we'll get the kids together!"

Yeah, that's code for "See ya' in another 10 years!"

Seiously, those conversations are excrutiating. They're just as hard as say . . . um . . . posting on your blog for the first time in 7 months! Talk about not knowing what to say!!!

Oh well, here's my peace offering. Enjoy!


I hope all in the blogosphere are doing well. Feel free to give me a call - we'll get the kids together!

Just kidding!!!

T3: Tate's 3rd Birthday Video

It's probably bad form to follow a post about how I've recommitted myself to my blog (so that my second child wouldn't feel neglected) with another post of a video solely dedicated to my first child.

But therein lies Real World Lesson #1 for Child #2 . . . Life ain't fair. Accept it and move on!

Having said that, let's move on to T3 - Tate's 3rd Birthday Video.

Happy Birthday, Buddy Boy! You'll never know how proud I am of you!

Christmas Second Stringers!

My yuletide soap boxes are a'plenty on this blog (click here and here) -- and though there is no shortage of retail stores to boycott because of their pre-emptive and obsessant broadcasts of Christmas music before the widely recognized and official start of the Christmas season (day after Thanksgiving) -- I do actually have one contribution to this year's Christmas cheer . . .

It's a Christmas card I got from my sister over 10 years ago and it still ranks #1 on my highly exclusive . . .

Top 10 Christmas Cards List

in the History of Ever!

. . . eat your heart out, Hallmark!




The reason I like it is because it's original! GASP! You mean we don't have to give the same ol' cards and listen to the same ol' music EVERY Christmas of our lives?!?!?!

No, actually, try mixing it up a little bit! And what doesn't say "Merry Christmas" like Vomet and Spitzen for reindeer names? Sound like my kinda guys!

Oh well, here's my half-hearted attempt to say "Merry Christmas, everybody!"

The Elephant In The Room

Considering recent events, I've discovered that I have at least one thing in common with Tiger . . . I have lots of explaining to do.

Our similarities abruptly end there.

I've gone from 3-4 posts a week to only 3 posts in as many months. There are two reasons for that.

When I started this blog, my job had me spending at least 2-4 hours a day in my car in addition to another 2 hours of sitting by myself in physician waiting rooms. Needless to say, I had plenty time to think of pointless, rambling blog material.

Then a little over a year ago I left that job (ultimately because I was bored out of my mind!) and took over my dad's clinical research company . . . Protenium Clinical Research - Moving Research Forward!

(Shameless Plug Alert!)

There are a lot of things I love about my new gig, but one of the draw backs is that keeping a company on track drains me of time and mental capacity for online ranting, much to the Evil Empire's delight.

Then there's Facebook. Sweet, clean, easy one-sentence status updates Facebook. Let's face it - Facebook is trying to kill my blog.

Bad, Facebook, bad!

At the same time, I've reconnected with so many more friends and family in the last year via Facebook than I ever did via my blog over the last three years.

Bad, blog, bad!

And I can honestly say that in the past few months I've contemplated actually signing off and hanging a "Moved to Facebook" sign on Wade's Rantings. Though I can't say that would NEVER happen, I can say that I now have a reason to keep blogging.

Kelly and I shared a couple months ago that we're having another baby in the spring. She and I already feel the guilt of not giving our second child near as much time, thought and attention as Tate by this point in his pregnancy. I think by the time Kelly was 20 weeks along with Tate, I already had a small novel written about him on my blog.

So far, Baby Strz has all of ONE.

(Uh-oh! I think CPS just pulled up in front of my house!)

All that being said, the last thing I want is Baby Strz to spend years in therapy as an adult because I didn't blog as much about him/her than I did about Tate. I think the guilt from that alone would have me spending year in therapy in itself.

So there you have it - it may not be 3-4 posts a week but dust off that boring looking Rounders 3 template and fire up the dashboard. This kid may have to play with hand-me-down Lightning McQueen toys but at least he/she will have his/her very own blog posts!

. . . OK, now it's Tiger's turn!

Fun With Our Office Message Board

It makes more sense if you're a huge Cowboy fan!

Go Cowboys!

Things Are Gonna Get Crazy(er) Around Here!

I was sitting at my desk at home one night recently when our wireless printer suddenly began cranking out a print job - this means that Kelly is printing something from her laptop in the other room.

After a few moments Kelly yelled from the other room if the printer was working. Without even glancing up from my own computer I yelled back that it was.

A few moments after that Kelly appeared in my doorway slightly annoyed and asking me to hand her the print out. I, being slightly annoyed at the interruption and at the fact that even though she had walked all the way from the other room she could not walk the final 5 feet to the printer, quickly turned to grab her print out. And this is what I found . . .



















After shedding the guilt I had about being annoyed at my wife while she was in such a delicate condition, I found myself elated with the realization that we're going to have a baby!

(Oh, man! We're going to have another baby!)

So already here come all the same thoughts all over again! What is the baby going to look like? Which name are we going to pick? How are going to handle two kids at once? How are we going to afford two kids at once? What are the chances he will grow up to win the Super Bowl MVP while playing for the Dallas Cowboys? You know, the typical stuff!

The answers to all those questions will come soon enough. As for now, we're praising God for his miracle of life and his many blessings! I pray that he keep both Kelly and the baby comfortably in his hands - that's the best place they could be!

Meanwhile, feel free to drop by with any donations, er, suggestions on how to survive with two!

Tate-ism #18

Tate began his bedtime prayer the other night by saying:

"Dear God, thank you for washing your hands."

It's pretty obvious he's trying to pass on the positive reinforcement he has been getting lately.