Bye Bachelor Brad...

My wife made me do it, I swear. I liked my Monday nights just the way they were but then along came Bachelor Brad and Monday got flushed. It all started with a girl from Orem a few years ago who was a contestant on "The Bachelor" and because of her high standards and unwillingness to wear bikinis and make-out (at least, those are the reasons I thought up) she was let go the first night. From then on I had a love hate relationship with the show.

So fast forward to this season and Bachelor Brad who, despite my past history with the show, I actually liked. He asked tough questions. He was respectful. He got rid of the drama/crazy girls right after they started causing problems (except for Utah's own Michelle). And he chose a not-crazy girl at the end (we all remember Vienna, like, yeah, what was that all about).

Now I know that you're thinking that I know entirely too much about this... What, you don't think this show is the epitome of romance? One guy dating 30 women at one time who, despite meeting him for the first time on the show, all love him and fling their future into his hands leaving him the responsibility to "eliminate" girls by taking them on incredibly realistic dates (like a skydiving in Australia or a safari in Africa or a private dinner on a private island reached only by helicopter) which allow him just the glimpse into these girls needed to decide which girl receives a ring purchased by producers of the show and all this amidst the drama of girls arguing over this one man, backbiting each other, and generally crying and moaning about how hard it is to share their man with 30 other women (because, of course, they have no idea that the show entiles mass dating)...you don't think that's romance? Nah, neither do I.

Knock knock jokes and instant messaging...

Remember the old days when instant messaging was oh-so-cool, weirdly romantic, completely time-absorbant, and increasingly illegible (plz stop u make me lol, rofl and now i will brb). Well I'm sitting here this evening instant messaging my wife knock knock jokes (knock knock--who's there--Brittany Spears--Brittany Spears who?--knock knock--who's there--Oops, I did it again) and I can't help but think: life is good! I love and like my wife, I adore my son, and I receive real satisfaction from my job.

I'm not bragging--your life is good too. I've noticed that even my pains, heartaches, and tragedies only serve to make the healing, loving, and celebrating all the sweeter.

Today was just one of those days that give my life substance. It wasn't really exciting or momentous--no records shattered or grand cosmos shifts. But it was good. Classes went well, my wife got cuter (she does that quite often), my son will now slobber on my cheek when I ask for a kiss... It's not always this way, but you know what, most of the time it is. Hard times come and hard times go but I can thank my God that good times seem to always seep through the cracks and cover my life.

So if I'm ever sitting on a bench waiting for a bus and someone sits down next to me and begins to talk, I might just say, "My life is like vanilla ice-cream: simple, consistent, even predictable, but oh-so-delicious."

The Man Blog: just like Brett Favre and Michael Jordan...

...that's right--you think it's gone and then it's back, and then it leaves again (no seriously, for reals this time guys) and then it's back. And with a new jersey (layout).

Well, because I know there are tens of people out there who are wondering just what happened to the Man Blogger, I've decided to come out of my retirement (imposed upon me by the birth of a son who eats, poops, and giggles, and still manages to take up my whole life) and re-enter the wide world of blogging.

This post's topic? Waiting for Superman. Watched it. Loved it. Why? Because unlike other "documentaries" I've seen, this one seemed, though the opportunities are most certainly there, to avoid negative finger-pointing and rabble-rousing. I felt a genuine representation of some of the current issues related to our national education system. And, working for that system and now working alongside that system, I agree with most, if not all, of the theses proposed in the movie:

• American schools aren't what they once were or should now be (given the resources available).
• The current problems are not resultant primarily from bad teachers nor bad parents. On the whole, parents care and teachers try.
• The educational "system" has devolved into a behemoth bureaucratic body that stamps out many good teachers' and good parents' attempts to rescue students.
• A possible solution may lie in a grassroots effort from teachers willing to break away from "traditional" education (and maybe even from unions), band together, and try something new.

All too often rants about America's educational inferiority degrade into debasing teachers and attacking schools. My wife is a teacher. I am a teacher. And I know more teachers that care than I do teachers that don't. Though there are certainly teachers that should not be in the system, this is not the primary problem. I think the film's commentary on the weight and antiquity of the current system (which hasn't changed since the 60's) lends a truer perspective to the real problems: bureaucracy, lax expectations (for parents, teachers, and students), and failed attempts at forced accountability.

The solution? I quote the credits sequence of the move, "We know what works: quality teachers, more classroom time, world class standards, high expectations, real accountability."

If you haven't seen it, I recommend it. If you have seen it, comment! I welcome thoughts, opinions (especially those that differ from mine), and ideas.

I love being a teacher. I consider it an honor to work with the students I do. I respect them for facing bravely each day a world that tells them they can't because (dot dot dot). They can. We can help.

Marriage Advice

A while back Krista and I were asked what marriage advice we would give a couple just embarking and the Tunnel-o-love ride that is marriage. Having been married for years now (two and half so I can say "years") we both jumped at the opportunity. However, we couldn't' think of anything to say. So here, now, I give my marriage advice to no one in particular:

• Everything together--We decided, early on in our marriage, that would do everything together. I think the idea originated with me being paranoid about fighting for my wife's attention against all her adoring fans and friends. However, we took and it and ran. Everything that could be done together, we did together--shopping, running errands, exercising etc. Now, a few years later, it's become second nature to us. We never really think about splitting up and doing two tasks; we accomplish almost everything together. I think today's world emphasizes a "divide and conquer" mentality when it comes to marital "teamwork". While this surely works for many couples and can no doubt check off more of the to-do list items, for us doing everything has not only supplied two heads when making daily decisions but strengthened our friendship as well. Plus, every time I try and do the shopping alone I just pace the pasta aisle for 20 minutes trying to pick a noodle. It helps to have another decision maker.
• Play games--a skill we have in spades. We probably play, on average, at least a game or two a day. We usually go in spurts--this month it has been Guillotine (not as violent as it sounds), last month it was two person Nerts, and most recently it's been Rook. Take whatever hobby you like, but I would highly advise finding something that you're both interested in to do together. I'm sure there's a select few out there as obsessed with games as we are, but anything works. Granted Krista gets really sad and pouts on the couch when she loses and I can't be touched for about 15 minutes after I lose, but on the whole having something light and fun to do together really makes us happy.
• "Can we go on a walk...?"--Truthfully, I used to dread this phrase. For me, walking was something you did to get somewhere. It seemed pointless to walk only to end up where you began. But we've had some of our best conversations (baby name ideas, where to buy a house, planning for the future, hypothetical "what-would-you-do-if-you-were-President" questions that Krista hates) all while strolling around in expensive jogging shoes. It's peaceful; it's healthy; it's relaxing; it's just plain good.
• "Chapter 1..."--While we were dating we went to the grocery store one night, saw the last Harry Potter book, bought it, and stayed up until 3:00 in the morning consecutive nights reading it together (now that's what I call courtship). Since then we've read tens of books together. We survived the Twilight series (Krista's idea), thoroughly enjoyed the Ender's Game series (my idea) and listened to some of the great (To Kill A Mockingbird) and some of the dud (Horse Whisperer) audio books. Most recently I've been reading to Krista and the baby when she's making dinner, driving, walking, or just sitting. It gives us great things to talk about and just one more thing to do together.
• "Can we get it?"--Go on a shopping spree every once in a while. This will be mostly wife driven of course, but it's still lots of fun. Our first shopping trip as a married couple was right after our wedding when we cashed in all our returns and gift cards at Target and ended up with two shopping carts and $500 worth of goods at checkout. Yesterday we bought a camcorder, Bernina (sewing machine), movies, Wal-Mart stuff, a mirror, fabric, a golf net, and Wendy's. Now, PLEASE make sure that this money is saved and budgeted properly, not for your own good but for mine! I'm sure I'll write about this later, but one of my biggest pet peeves is how loose people are with money. Not to elevate us on any kind of pedestal, but we didn't make these trips just on a whim but because we've been saving up for a long time to get some of these things (okay, we weren't saving up for Wendy's). But once you've got the money saved, spend some quality time spending it.

Okay, I talk too much so I'll be done. But there you go--marriage advice from a 2 1/2 year vet.

The internet desert

For the last month we've been without interent and while wading through the sand of the wireless-less desert, here's a few things I discovered:

• Gardening - we didn't know it, but moving into our house we inherited an entire ecosystem complete with abundant vegetation and animal life (mainly spiders). I've now seen the enemy, declared war, and for the last few weeks have been fighting the good fight and weeding the bad weeds. I've pulled three overgrown rosebushes, attempted to uproot a tree-sized bush, and filled three whole bags with dandilions. I've edged, trimmed, mowed, fertalized, sprayed, and sweated. Actually, it's all kinda fun.
• Studying - I'm taking the GRE this coming June and have began brushing up on test-taking skills and strategies. Once again I'm faced with a system designed solely to test how well you take a test. Any tips from any of you out there? Yes, I'm talking to all four of you that read my blog.
• Baby stuff - That's right, we've started the long road now. We've acquired a crib and changing table (thanks Mom), tons of baby clothes (times two--thanks Jaime and twins), an awesome stroller (thanks family), and disposable nursing pads (I'm not even sure what those do). I received the first real "baby feeling" the other day when I lifted the carseat out of our stroller, held it in my arms, and pictured a little blond bundle there. Two months and counting!
• BBQ - Lesson #1--If you burger gets pinker in the twenty minutes it's on the grill, you need more charcoal. Lesson #2--You need more than 8 peices of charcoal to get a BBQ ready enough to cook meat for 15 people. Lesson #3--When dumping half a bag of charcoal on a BBQ and soaking it with lighter fluid, wait a few minutes before sticking in the lighter. Lesson #4--Singed arm hair looks funny.

Why I don't write more often

Soooo...here's the deal. I've decided (after over a month of not writing, I know) that the reason my subconscious man won't let me write more often is the following: if I did write regularly, say weekly, this Man Blog would become a Woman Blog. You see, dear readers, the essence of the female species of the blog is that it gets updated with every life event--baby births, family trips, personal bloopers, weird tonails etc. However, the male blog thrives on spontaniety, randomness, unpredictability, and inconsistency. Thus, in staying true to what makes my blog a Man Blog, I must refrain from writing regularly.

And by the way, my wife is wrong--every time I blog it is definities not always about why I don't blog more often. This blog is most definitely not any kind of justification or rationalization. So there you go.

Blogging is HARD!

So yeah, it's been a month since my last post and I've realized--blogging is hard. Kudos to all you diligent blogging ladies out there. But, I'm a man and I can do this

So here's a list of completely random man tid-bits ranging from not-important to very important.

• Manmercials! If you haven't experienced these yet, you need to.
  
  
  
  




• Speaking of manly things--I found out today that I'm going to be father to a boy! Which means that my family tradition survives: my son will be the oldest son of the oldest son (me) of the oldest son (my dad) of the oldest son (Grandpa). Very very manly.




• Women + ice skates = great olympic event. Men + ice skates = um...yeah
  





• Blonde man joke (as told by a man): Three construction workers sitting high in a skyscraper eating lunch. First worker looks in lunchbox, says, "Man, burritos again. If I get burritos for lunch one more time, I'm gonna jump." Second guy, "Man, pasta again. If I get pasta one more time, I'm gonna jump." Third guy (the blonde), "Man, PB&J. If I get PB&J one more time, I'm gonna jump." Next day: First guy opens lunchbox, sees a burrito, and jumps to his death. Second guy opens lunchbox, sees pasta, jumps to his death. Third guy opens lunchbox, sees PB&J, jumps to his death. At the funeral: First guy's wife says, "If only I'd known he didn't like burritos, I'd have made something else" and walks away crying. Second guy's wife says, "If only I'd known he didn't like pasta, I'd have cooked something else" and walks away crying. Everyone looks at the Blonde guy's wife. She says, "Hey! Don't look at me, he packs his own lunch."

Soooo...there you go. Man--it's great to be one, even if we're bad skaters.