What should you do?

The question was posed in a blog I follow, what should I do?  The Internal Make Over, here is the link, but remember it won't bring you back... so if you want to get the back story, just come back here for the advice.

Her question, in a nutshell, is should she give up on the part-time freelance work she does (and loves) in favor of a more secure full time gig with benes.

It seems to be the age old question, should I do what I love or should I do what pays the bills.  Having been on the side of the fence where the husband was working to pay the bills, I can tell you, it sucks.  If you can find something that you love to do and you can afford to live on what they are paying you, then that is the way to go.  That miserable, I hate my job, hell we lived in for 9 months was not worth the money.  The fact that Bob is happy doing what he is doing right now is worth the massive pay cut he took to be there.

That said, I think the question goes a little bit deeper, because the author is a single parent who probably needs some sort of steady income.  There is a lot of stress associated with relying on freelance work to pay the bills.  I am not unsympathetic to her situation.  I would not want to have to be in a place where my income is insecure.

So, should you do what you love and worry about paying the bills or should you do something you can tolerate and have security.  I would like to assert that there is another choice, do what you love and find a way to make it more secure.

There is a really annoying saying, Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life.  I know, made me puke a little in my mouth too... but it is sort of true.  Life is short kids, and I think if you can figure out how to be happy most of the time, then that is probably the path to be on.

Good luck stranger out there in cyberspace, I hope you can figure out how to do what you love and get the security that you need.

Die Monkey, Die

There is a monkey in Hannah's room.  She would not go to sleep, go to her room to get dressed or generally do anything that involved her room because of the monkey.

The monkey looks something like this:

I am very tired of having to be Hannah's body guard, when she is in her room. All the anti-monkey spray in the world did not seem to solve the problem. Her room reeked like a cheap bordello, but the monkey remained.

Today, pumped up from weight lifting at the gym...

... I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I went up to Hannah's room, and captured that monkey. I grabbed his tail as he ran by, and put a bag over his head. Once he was captured in the bag, I hit him with a stick until he stopped snickering. Then I jumped on the bag, ran over it with the car, jumped on it a bit more. I tossed the bag in the trash and watched the trash men crush it in the truck.

Hannah is no longer afraid to go into her room. She laughs hysterically when I recount how I killed the monkey.

I am glad it worked, because my only other option was to have Fish and Wildlife come by and take the monkey away. That's right monkey I have friends in law enforcement, so don't get any ideas.

No actual monkeys where harmed in today's wild beating...

Fireworks recap

We took the kids to see fireworks for the very first time. I realize that this is an oversight in my parenting. First the kids were babies and too young to stay up that late. Then we moved and I just didn't have the energy to do it.

This year, we decided to give it a try. We got there early enough, next year we can go earlier. The kids had a good time playing and hanging out. The weather was perfect. Not too hot, not too cold. We got a prime parking space.

When the fireworks started, Mac and Sam sat on the blanket with their arms around each other so that neither would be too scared of the loud booms. Once the realized that it wasn't too loud or scary, they laid back, holding hands, and talked about what they saw. They were still a little nervous that the sparks might hit them.

After it was all said and done, they were all excitement and enthusiasm. The wait was worth it, can we do it again next year. Did you see that? Did you see this? What was your favorite, wasn't the end awesome? They chatted back and forth and we got to the van. The traffic was managed very efficiently and the biggest hassle on our drive home was crossing the tracks, because a slow moving freight train was passing.

See you next year at the fair grounds!

Holiday knitting

I have a system to my knitted gift giving.  If you are someone who I think it worthy, I will make you something, but it will NOT be of good yarn and intricate pattern until you prove that you will adequately appreciate said gift.  I have to know that you use it, that you love it and that you really want more.

Why am I bringing this up during the heat of summer?  Because the holiday knitting season is upon us.  Knitters all over the world are wringing their hands, contemplating what and for who they will knit.  I have a few items on the holiday knitting list, but in all honesty as it stand right now, only 3 people in my life deserve merino.

A hand knit gift takes not hours, but days.  Even a simple dishrag takes an evening to make.  Before I am willing to commit hours of my life and a significant amount of money on making something for someone, they have to appreciate it.  Because, don't kid yourself, yarn isn't cheap and hand knit gifts are not a frugal choice.  I will not talk about how much I spend, but lets just say you could purchase a stuffed animal cheaper than I can make one.  But a purchased stuffed animal does not have love in every stitch.  It was not custom designed and created with you in mind.  It was not something that another person fretted over, worried about and created specially for you.

I read a blog by Wendy over at Knit and Tonic, and well, she says it much better than I do.  knit and tonic blog (Just click the underlined blue part and it will take you there, but won't bring you back, but that is ok, I am done here.)

Big or Small?

The decisions we make today will impact our future.  The magnitude of the impact often has little to do with the size of the decision.  Point, I teased my boss about the size of his house.  Not because it was small, really, but because I knew it was a sensitive issue.  Guess what, it was one of the reasons he gave when we had our little chat, and he inappropriately let me go.  There is more to this story, but the fact that I made a small inconsequential decision in my mind, ended up have a big impact on my future.

Rarely do we have the opportunity to know what small decision impacted our future.  Sometimes we do. I learned a valuable lesson that day.  While in the end that situation ended up being in my favor, because their "reasons" were bogus, it was all about other things.  One of which was the size of someone's house.

Take from my lesson what you will.  Think, what small decisions have you made today that will come back to haunt you tomorrow?

Swimming Lessons

Monday, was Hannah's first swimming lesson ever.  I know, I have been a bit remiss in getting her into swimming lessons, but I figured I am a very good swimmer I can show how to do it.  For the most part, she has progressed fine and is at about the same level as the other kids her age.  So, she was not irrevocably damaged by this over-sight.  Well, it really wasn't an over-sight, more of a life getting in our way and not having either time or money to participate in swimming lessons.

This summer both the time and money collided and I signed the kids up!  Hannah took to it like, well a duck to water.  She leaped into the pool and did what they asked her to do.  Then when we got home, she practiced in the bath tub.  She can't wait to show her teacher that she can float.

While it was not a purposeful decision to have Hannah wait until she was 4 to have swimming lessons, it was a good outcome.  I watch mothers try and force their kids into swimming lessons.  Watched the kids cry.  The mothers cajole and plead.  Some threatened and bribed.  Some got in the water with their little tikes.  I remember going through that with Mac.  It was a massive Mexican stand-off.  It was horrible.

I didn't have to go through that with Hannah, because I waited until she was old enough to participate.  Don't get me wrong, I think it is a critical life skill to know how to swim.  It is not like soccer, dance or karate, it is something that my kids need to know how to do.  They do not need to be able to gracefully glide across the pool, but the do need to be able to safely remove themselves from a pool should they find themselves in one.  I agree with these parents, their kids should learn to swim.  But do they need to do it before they are potty trained?  Maybe not.

Birthday interview

Today is Sam's birthday.  I thought it might be interesting to interview the birthday boy and get his take on his 6th year and learn about his plans for the upcoming 7th year.

So, Mr. Lang, it is Sam Lang, not Mr. Lang, Mac is Mr. Lang.  Actually you are Mr. Lang too.  I don't want to be Mr. Lang.

So, Sam, what was the highlight of your 6th year?  I haven't been alive for 6 years, I have been alive for 7.

I realize you have been alive for 7, but our readers would like to know what you liked best about your 6th year, or what was the best thing that happened last year?  Umm... we went swimming.  We got pizza.  Umm... you bought us animal braclets, or sillybandz.  (We took the kid to Disneyland, Quassy, the movies, to see grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, multiple museums and other outings and swimming, pizza and sillybandz are the best things of the year?)

Really, did you go on any exciting trips?  California!!  We went swimming at a hotel. 


Anything else you want to say about California?  We went to Disneyland.


Was Disneyland fun?  Yeah

What did you like best?  Space Mountain, it was like you were in space.  Wasn't it so much like we were going up to outer space? 

So, what are you looking forward to next year?  Turning 8 next year.

Do you have any specific plans or goals for next year?  I want to go out and get Jakes Pizza.

Anything else you want to share with our readers?  No, just get off the computer so I can use it.

This concludes our interview with a newly minted 7 year old.  He would like me to post and get off the computer so he can play pokemon lake.  Until the next birthday, this reporter is signing off.

PS.  Did you know, that Sammy shares the day of his birth with one of the coolest knitting designers in the universe?  If you have gotten a knit elephant from me you have seen her work... yup, Ysolda's birthday is also today.  How cool is that... except Sam likes giraffes NOT elephants.  psst.  her patterns are 25% off today!  Be sure and check it out.