Happy St. Patrick's Day and other stuff

OK, first off, let me explain the tag for this - gumbo.
In this sense, this post will have a smattering of all kinds of stuff that's welling up inside, so who knows what will come out?
I have some Irish descent in me somewhere, so at least I have green Post-It notes surrounding me. And as of yet, we don't have Jadyn in anything green.
But the day isn't over by a long stretch.
As I approach 40, I notice that I'm thinking more about people in my past - most often a guy I was in the Guard with named David who I haven't talked to in close to 14 years. I'm beginning to wonder if he's no longer with us - attempts to find him have led nowhere.
And there are those with whom renewed contact might be problematic, you know, past history that's too involved and complicated to bring forward into today.
But I guess I'm looking for some sort of acknowledgment that despite the challenges and struggles - and even my own self-defeating flaws - that I've somehow made a difference, or succeeded in life. Not to say that I've arrived, or that I'm perfect, but that I'm on the right path.
But in realizing that this is what I'm doing, I think I've unearthed a tremendous lack of faith.
Do I have to keep going if I never hear an attaboy? Yes.
"Well done, my good and faithful servant."
That's the one I want to hear. I guess it's selfish and self-centered to look for others along the way.
Am I where I'm supposed to be with the people I'm supposed to be with?
That, in and of itself, is a lack of trust, I suspect.
In most everything we sense, we think we're hitting the mark, overall. But ...
In my upbringing, a sense of doubt found its way into my thinking. It's something that's plagued me my entire life.
Very few things cross my path in which I don't second-guess my ability to handle them.
It's very debilitating and I'm learning - day by day - to overcome it.
A prayer shared by U.S. Rep. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., which House Chaplain Daniel Coughlin used in a prayer service near the opening of the current Congress in January, seems to fit.
It is attributed to the late Mychal Judge, the New York City Fire Department chaplain who died when the South Tower collapsed and sent debris into the North Tower on Sept. 11, 2001.
It reads: "Lord, tell me where You want me to go, Let me meet who You want me to meet, Tell me what You want me to say, And keep me out of Your way."
It is my prayer that I live out this one.

'Enjoy in moderation'

Disclaimers
This is not a joke. I saw an ad tonight for Hershey's dark chocolate. Fine print during the ad said something pretty close to "Enjoy in moderation."
Maybe those folks who said the next thing the "we know what's best for you" police will go after are right - regulating food intake.
Yes, I've eaten way more than I should of chocolate and all kinds of stuff, but I don't think regulation would ever cure people of being overweight.
The quote at the top is from my latest favorite show - "My Name is Earl."
It sometimes has the IQ of one my socks with holes in it, but it's also endearing. If you're easily offended, I wouldn't watch it.

Gel shoes and other stuff

Gel shoes
A few weeks back, my wife and a shoe store sales clerk convinced me to buy some of those "gel" shoes. I'm not sure what else to call them, except that they feel like foam insulation to the touch.
A friend didn't seem to think a guy wearing such shoes was a good idea.
I have no intention of wearing them outside of around the house, so I think it's OK. I wore them for a lengthy period for the first time today and I like them. They're comfortable and they're a step up from the ordinary household slipper. They provide support similar shoes don't usually offer.
So this time there aren't any hairline cracks in the fragile male ego - at least not over this subject.

Mike Wallace retires (sort of)
Dude, the man doesn't look 87, or even act it.
They played an interview Harry Smith did with him and he looks maybe 75ish. Wish him well in the semi-retirement.

Gotta go. Jadyn's up and hollering after an hour nap. Bye!

New Year's Brain Dump

I'm trying to come up with somethig witty and interesting for the blog to lure back my millions of readers.
Maybe this could be a "blog about nothing." Hey - it worked for some guy named Jerry.
My mind is fried and temporarily on pause after a series after a few sleep-deprived nights and long days. Jadyn hasn't really been an insomnia cause for some number of weeks and we're very grateful.
Well, it's off to the big"ger" city for a shopping excursion with relatives. More later.
Y'all come back now, ya hear?

Been too long!

I probably have lost my entire fan base (made up largely of long-standing friends, family and a few recent arrivals to the fold).
I'm flying solo with Jadyn tonight so I might need to run back in to where she is (also because the first episode of "E-Ring" is on and I got hooked on the show after the first episode aired).
Got to work on the shopping for Amanda too along with a whole host of stuff to do before Christmas.
OK, more soon. I hope.
Fading out to my version of an old Van Halen song:
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Jadyn's crying... ."

"Helping white people dance"

One of the funniest songs I think I've heard in quite some time is "Alcohol" by Brad Paisley. Through exposure and the sheer fact that some "country" sounds oddly like palatable light to moderate rock these days, I've started getting into some of it.
In fact, "Alcohol" may be funniest song I've heard since "Celebrity," the song that put Paisley on the map a couple of years back.
Now, the song is in no way an endorsement for inebriation. "I got you in trouble in high school ... ."

The computer version of camping
Thursday morning, I got up to find a message on our desktop computer saying something like "boot disk failure; insert boot disk." I knew it was bad.
An IT guy attends our church. He already had our laptop, repairing it after I hit it with my fist. (real smart)
So we swapped him and we're hoping that he can salvage the important stuff on the hard drive, most particularly our pictures of Jadyn. We have a few on her blog.
In the future, we must find a way to back up the hard drive on a regular basis.
However, please don't take what I'm saying to in any way compare to the losses sustained by the folks who lost everything - some 1,000 or so who even lost their lives - on the Coast.
Meanwhile, the laptop is serving as our connection to the Internet.

Cookie dough
Yeah I need to lose weight for sure, but we bought several batches of cookie dough from a teenage friend of the family who was selling it and I wanted to at least eat some of the stuff we bought raw. Just this once. Hopefully.

Rough night
Any parents out there with suggestions on how to make the transition from a smaller bed or swing to a crib without anyone losing sleep, please pass it along. :)

Blogger's Block

I'm off work sick today and I haven't been blogging much because I really haven't thought about how to use this blog as an outlet without venting about work or other stuff that just wouldn't be appropriate for this forum.
So that's why you haven't heard from me lately. We also do our baby updates on another Web site and I like to keep them there.
I also wanted to let some time go by after Rina passed away. While she wasn't someone we were in touch with every day (she resided in the western United States), she checked in with us frequently during Amanda's pregnancy and some afterward. Her death was just so shocking because of her age and we simply just didn't see her as someone who was sickly. I guess it's your time when it's your time.

Christmas list
She's one of four people who would normally get a Christmas letter from us this year who won't be there to get one.
We haven't contacted everyone about Jadyn's birth on our normal Christmas list because we simply haven't had time to generate all the letters needed.
We try to send the letters to people we probably won't see at Christmas, although at least one person who we do see at Christmas has told us to send one anyway. We'll see as we get it together this year.

Treating the ills
I visited a neat practice today to get my medications. A Nigerian-born physician and a nurse practitioner (from the Southeast) have a great little clinic here. They take some different approaches to things and I think it'll actually be fun to go to the doctor. At least it was today.

Yes I AM sick so I'm going to lay down next to the swing (see Jadyn's blog) and keep an ear for her. More later maybe.