Weekend Update

Another weekend has gone by and of course it was slightly eventful.

First, we were "That Guy" this weekend and put up our Christmas lights. I use the term 'put up' loosely since we did not finish the job and power has not been routed to all the lights . . . yet. We still have some supplies to acquire and we need to buy some replacement bulbs since Lisa and I broke a few in the unpacking. Amazingly enough our packing wasn't as bad as I feared and most things were still in good working order. I also learned that my Vibram Five Finger shoes are excellent for climbing the roof.

Secondly, a mystery has been solved. Lisa had complained Saturday and Sunday that she was sore all over like she had been beat up. We racked out brains to try to recall if she had lifted anything heavy, if I had beaten her and forgotten, or if maybe she was sleep walking and injuring herself. Well she spent most of the weekend blaming me for being a mysterious wifebeater (the Stache might be influential in this train of thought), but on Sunday night I figured it out. On Friday night we played Wii Fit at a friends house and Lisa played it vigorously. I guess shadow boxing as hard as you possibly can without throwing the remotes at the TV is a little harder on the body than Lisa had suspected.

Third, the Caughran Family was shoe crazy on Saturday. Lisa the Boy and I went to Willowbrook and The Woodlands to do some Xmas shopping. In the end, we got 2 pairs of shoes for the boy, 1 for Lisa (with another pair planned but we didn't make it to the store) and 2 pairs for me. Using Aggie math, that is around 6 pairs of shoes. Seems pretty hypocritical of me to buy so many shoes since I have been spreading the word around about the benefits of going barefoot. Oh well.

Lastly, Greatest hunt ever! background: I was reading about how back in the day, Humans used to hunt gazelles and other deer-like animals with nothing other than their bare hands. They would slowly chase the animal until it collapsed from exhaustion. If you want to know more details on how it works let me know and I can fill you in but a quick synopsis is that Humans have a better heat transfer system that allows them to run longer than nearly all other animals. Back to the hunt. Well Last night I was finishing my run and heading back into our section when I saw a Buck run by. I decided that even though I didn't plan to go that direction that I would follow it. I slowly ran after it as it sped away. It turned down an opening in the street while just barely in sight. When I arrived at the turn I found it had trapped itself and was hitting its antlers on the metal fence frantically trying to get away from me. I had it cornered and was going to move in for the kill. But then it hit me. I don't have a hunting license and so I let it go. I will say that if I had my cell on me, I would have called Hank, and he would have been there to take it out. I don't think the HOA would have been happy, but Hank would have been.


The Buck looked something like this.

Coming Soon . . . Movember update and Barefoot running (is Colin Crazy?)

Movember = ewwww

At Macquarie, corporate is big on a fund-raising event known as Movember. For the whole month of November (Movember) men grow mustaches to raise money for the prostate cancer society and Lance Armstrong's Livestrong as well as raise men's health awareness. I decided to participate in Movember and began growing a mustache on 11/1.

Now there are some people that can grow a good mustache (men and women) and some people that don't have to worry about facial hair. I am in the latter group. I have very little ability to grow facial hair and in all honesty I should not be allowed to even attempt to.

Some quotes I have received:

"Ewwww you look like a pedophile"

"Nice, Child molester"

"Why does it only grow on one side?"

"Is that really 2 weeks of growth"

"That is just horrible. Do you go out in public looking like that?" Me: "Yeah and I try to tell people that it is for Movember" Person: "Yeah but you don't talk to everyone you see. I can't imagine what people must think when they see you. You really should shave that off"

One person after someone commented about how full their beard was "Yeah it separates the men from the boys" Me with my pathetic childmolestache: "thanks"

Multiple people: "I wouldn't be able to grow a mustache, it would probably look like yours." Me: "Yeah I am the only idiot that can't grow a mustache that is attempting to."

Well there you have it. Please click the link if you want to donate to the cause.

My Mo:

Update: How to waste another $20

Well a few weeks ago I wrote about how I wasted $20 at Spec's to get my car jumped. Well this past weekend we went to Spec's again to again get some Barbera wine. Since we enjoyed it last time, I decided we should get two bottles of Barbera from different wineries so that we wouldn't have to go to Spec's again for a long time (I don't like wasting money).

This time I went into the store with Lisa and BC so that I wouldn't have an opportunity to kill the car again. We got the wines, the car started and we made it home safely. Once I got home I was unloading the car and groceries. Being the typical male, I carried everything in with one trip.

In the process of unloading in the kitchen, the bag with the wines tipped over and I was able to catch it during the fall except I caught the bag and only one of the bottles with my hand. As I was saving the bottle, the bag was ripping and the other bottle continued to the tile floor shattering into a mess of glass and wine. Did I mention it was red wine? It was a huge mess. It took Lisa and I a good thirty minutes to clean up the wine and glass. We now have 5 fashionable wine stained dish rags.

It has been a few days, but I am still finding small shards of glass on the floor.

So to recap. We have made two trips to Spec's in the last year and in the process wasted $20 on each trip.

Race Photos

I ran in the 1st annual Walk by faith 5k in Deussen Park (Summerwood) on Sunday. It is for a good cause (see http://www.walkbyfaith5k.org/ for details). Macquarie was the main sponsor.

Here I am before the race:


Here is almost all the Macquarie folks after the race.



I improved my time by 2:29 from the Komen race in early October. It is partially that I have started running again and mostly the fact that the there were no hills. I got 10th overall.

Is that Chocolate?

Another weekend has gone by and it was once again eventful. This past weekend was the Growing Kids God's Way conference. Lisa and I have been raising BC following the GKGW principles (aka babywise). Lisa went to the conference with both of my sisters (Amy and Ashley). I didn't go because it didn't seem like fun to me. Unfortunately for Lisa and my sisters, they were the only attendees that didn't have their spouses with them (oops). Anyways, the point of the matter, while Lisa was at a conference learning how to better raise our child, I was watching him, and from the previous blogs (falling down the bleachers), this could be trouble.

Well Friday night was pretty uneventful, but Saturday morning was a different story. We went to the Kemah boardwalk to ride the rides and visit with my mom (Nanny Susie) and the cousins (Emmett, Howdy and Sissy). BC loved playing with them and riding the rides. He rode the carousel, hot air balloon Ferris wheel and the fighter planes. I rode with him on the rides and on the planes in particular, Emmett made an astute observation. He noticed that the plane I was riding didn't go half as high as the other planes (it was because it is made for kid's weights, not adult's) After the ride, he said to me "I'm a better driver then you because I could fly higher". It was slightly embarrassing that I was too heavy for the hydraulic powered ride, and that it was so obvious that Emmett noticed.

But that wasn't the eventful part. After eating lunch and heading back to the house, it was nap time. BC was too excited about playing with his cousins to take a nap. He just wouldn't go to sleep and kept throwing his pooh bear out of the Pack and Play. I decided to stay up there with him and take a nap. About an hour later I heard him crying again and it smelt like he needed a change. I figured he pooped and that woke him. Little could have prepared me for what I was about to see.

I found BC sitting intently naked in the middle of the pack in play with what looked like mud covering his hands and his face. His diaper and excrement had been tossed over the edge of the pack and play. He had gotten poo everywhere even on his pooh bear. I sat in amazement, dumbfounded on what to do. So I grabbed him under his armpits while controlling his arms and looked for help to clean him up.

Once he was all cleaned and the pack and play had been hosed down, I called Lisa to inform her about the day. She laughed at me and said "I guess we can't put him to bed in just his diaper anymore".

Luckily for me my nose worked and I didn't try to figure out what the substance was like in the movie Baby Mama. I only wish it had been chocolate.

Dewberry Farms

This Sunday we went to Dewberry Farms with some friends of ours. Little Colin had a blast. Here are some pictures.



Colin, Sophie, and Micah.



Colin still loves to swing.





Playing in the cornbox.




On the hay ride with Mommy.





BC and Colin on the hay ride.



Caughran family.




Going down the slide alone, like a big boy.




The rollerslide with Daddy.




Riding the "Black Mamba" with Mommy.




"I think the exit is this way Dad".

Best/Worst Dad Moment

Lisa, BC and I all went to the St. John's Kinkaid Football game on Friday night (BC's second football game and second SJS/KHS game). We were having trouble getting into the game since we did not have enough cash (I wasted it on a bum a few nights before). So I called Vik to borrow $5 bucks to get in. To make a long story short we were able to get into the game with out paying ($24) so for the week I am net +$4.

But that is not the point of this blog post. During the game there was an event that made me the best/worst dad at the same time (I will admit that the "best" part is only my opinion and Lisa does not agree). As we were sitting in the bleachers watching the game, Lisa got up to go get the boy some milk. He started to follow her along the bleacher. I was watching him. He stumbled and fell on his butt, got up and was fine. Then he stumbled backwards on the bleacher step below him and started to fall on the concrete one step below. As he was falling I was flying through the air to catch him (it was very Curt-esque**) and the people closest to him reached out as well. I caught him on his belt loop just as his forehead kissed the concrete below. I traveled twice as far as anyone else and was the only one that caught him (that was the "best" part) and no one else came close.

When I pulled him up he had a slight red mark on his forehead and Lisa took him to console him while berating me for letting him fall.( Edited again by Lisa, I asked Colin why he let him get out of reach and he replied " I thought he was a big boy"... Come on he is 1 1/2 years old. Anyways.)Now I don't know where she was, but she saw it happen but did not move as fast as me to catch him. So I was the worst dad for letting him fall and not being safer, but I reacted pretty fast to stop him from getting seriously hurt. When it comes down to it, he is a boy and boys fall get hurt and get back up again.


**For those of you that do not know Curt, he is my brother in law that has three children. Lisa and I have witnessed on multiple occasions him instantly diving into a pool or launching across the room to save one of his children from injury and/or drowning. One event occurred so fast at Lakewood that the lifeguard had no idea what had happened.

Tyson Update (11/3)

Tyson is making good progress. He is starting to use his legs more and has full control of his bladder (no more accidents!). He is also going to acupuncture treatments. I know it seems a little weird to get your dog acupuncture, but according to the dodgerslist.com it helps a lot. So far it seems to be worth the time and cost.

Here is a pic of him today getting his second treatment.



By Lisa:
I just got home from Tyson's 2 week check up and the vet said that she was shocked at how much he had improved in just 2 1/2 weeks. There is a good chance he will be back to normal after his 6 more weeks of crate rest. We were very pleased to hear such good news. However we are not out of the woods just yet.