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The beach heals June 21, 2008 6:59 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Family, Holiday, Travel , add a commentAs a child, when I had a wound, my grandmother would send me to the ocean. "The ocean will heal that!" A cut surely stings wading out into the salt water but it does seem to mend quickly. Perhaps the healing is psychological. The fun of the surf making you forget your scrape. Maybe its more. This week we had the full moon overhead. It lit the ocean remarkably. Thunderstorms blew in briefly and gave vivid light shows. Tides swelled and the ocean gave both lulling calm and thunderous waves without explanation for the ocean’s mood swings. Great forces were at work. And magical times for long lasting memories.
We have not had a family vacation since the last week of December 2000. This was a much needed break. Time to go home now.
ps. We only got referenced as "The Griswold’s" once.
add a commentHoliday Cad February 14, 2008 6:31 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Holiday, Of Being Dad, Valentine's Day , 5commentsI let another holiday slip up on me but this time I had plans! I had a very specific hour set aside to get my shopping out of the way. Unfortunately, irony usurped that hour away from me.
5commentsAnd what a merry Christmas it was! December 27, 2007 2:17 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Amy, Cathy, Christmas, Daily Life, Evan, Family, Holiday, Noah, Of Being Dad, Sarah, Tommy , 3comments
To all to whom I have not responded, thank you for your well wishes!
To all to whom we did not send a card, you were not forgotten! There was probably a technical reason like needed your address or my mad cow caused me to fail to get you on Cathy’s master mailing list.
Miracles and angels came through to help pull together our Christmas at the last minute. The children were well gifted and very happy with their presents. 
We had a wonderful visit from both sets of grandparents and Aunt Kelly.Cathy and I promised to be budget minded and agreed to not buy each other anything which is why we are both now the proud owners of new iPod nanos. We both cheated feeling the other was well deserving of a new toy.
Each year it seems one of the children gets a bum deal. This year it was Sarah’s turn. Both Tommy and Sarah received new office chairs for their desks from their grandparents. They were thrilled! I prompted Tommy to hold off on assembly until I could help him. Sarah did not heed my warning and broken open the package of numerous parts in the midst of our unwrapping mess and started assembling without checking the parts list nor understanding the instructions. (She’s going to drive like Cathy! "It felt correct to turn this way. NO! I didn’t take a left turn at Albuquerque this time.") We could not find the screws! 6 screws AWOL. We even pulled the trash back inside and went through every piece of wrapping and package that had been discarded. Tommy learned and quickly went over his parts list only to find a critical piece missing. We quickly discovered his critical piece was already attached to his chair. It wasn’t until a day later that Sarah and I drove to Home Depot and purchased bolts and washers that we realized her bolts were already in their respective holes. 
We figured this out because we could not get the new bolts to go into them! Doh! She also received a Nabaztag but it still isn’t working. Story to follow. which is finally working! After creating an account at Nabaztag, you can send a message to her rabbit over the Internet or with your phone and it will speak the message to Sarah. Oh, I almost forgot. When assembling the chair, Sarah dropped a heavy part on her foot breaking a toe. Poor Sarah!
The children had a fantastic Christmas and so did Cathy and I. Now back to work so I can finish paying off this one and put away for Christmas 2008!
3commentsWhy Twitter? Because Santa Listens! December 25, 2007 4:02 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Christmas, Communications, Daily Life, Holiday, Technology , 4comments"I don’t get Twitter." That is said so often it should be put on t-shirts and bumper stickers. I have used the Red Cross as an example of a good use of Twitter. Now I get to point to Santa Claus! Santa Twittered his flight this year. It was phenomenal. He frequently reported his location and the amazing thing was that he responded to people! He has hundreds following him and he was following many of them in return. As busy as the night kept him, he still managed to find time to give personal responses to many people! I quipped that Valium or Vicodin would help with the holidays.
djuggler Dear Santa, Instead of candy this year, can we please have Valium and Vicodin in our stockings? Thx. “Oh stress levels are frightful..lala” 11:12 AM December 19, 2007 from web
Santa replied in a private message directly to me:
SantaClaus Tsk! Tsk! Santa can not deliver illegal items. What would itlook like to have Santa busted on his rounds? 09:08 AM December 19, 2007
I mentioned putting food on the lawn.
djuggler There is now more magic reindeer food on my lawn than I have grass! @SantaClaus and crew should be very pleased. And glittery. about 2 hours ago from web
And almost at the same time Santa posted (which could have just been a coincidence):
Thank you one and all for the wonderful treats you have left for the reindeer and me. It has really helped us to keep up our energy on … … about 2 hours ago from Snitter
His Twittering was informative, fun, personal, and a joy to watch. I only wish the children were using Twitter. Hmm. I suppose I could have threatened to text Santa if they were bad. Bet he would have responded too!
4commentsMerry Christmas! December 25, 2007 1:26 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Christmas, Holiday , add a commentSeen on 1938Media
add a commentTick Tock Tick Tock I’m Afraid of That Big Bad Clock December 24, 2007 10:56 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Christmas, Daily Life, Holiday , add a commentAfter scoring bagels at Panera I wasted time at two stores and scored on the third. One more check off my list but look at that time fly! Back to shopping!
add a commentChristmas Eve is upon us! December 24, 2007 8:34 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Christmas, Daily Life, Holiday , add a commentShopping done? No.
House cleaning done? No.
Gifts wrapped? What do you think?
Stressed? Why certainly!
From the mouths of babes December 21, 2007 6:43 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Amy, Christmas, Daily Life, Family, From the mouths of babes, Holiday, Of Being Dad , add a commentAmy, 5 years old and very excited: "There’s only 3 more boxes on my advent calender then it’s Christmas!"
Dad: *bleeehh nehhhhh*
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! December 20, 2007 6:59 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Christmas, Holiday , 3commentsThis year looked like it would be the first Christmas in a long time that I wouldn’t be buying presents at the last minute. Everything would be done over the Internet and mailed well in advance. At least that was the plan. What happened?! One thing that has happened is angels have lighted upon us and helped alleviate some of the holiday stress! I feel a little bit like Charles Dickens is authoring my life. Now if only it would snow!
3commentsMy Secret Christmas Present December 13, 2007 12:33 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Christmas, Holiday , 1 comment so farDon’t tell my family, but they are ALL getting one of these for Christmas!
Special thanks to Duncan Riley where I first saw the video and who I’m not sure whether to thank or to curse for inviting me into Seesmic.
1 comment so farWe won’t have a tree for Christmas November 29, 2007 9:13 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Christmas, Daily Life, Evan, Holiday, Of Being Dad , 8commentsSomeone should make rubber ornaments. Evan is going to have far too much fun smashing ornaments this year. We should be using popcorn, wooden blocks, and plastic disposable decorations.
8commentsI love me some Thanksgiving! November 23, 2007 11:39 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Holiday, Thanksgiving , add a comment
I thought yesterday was very special. I was tickled that our inlaws chose to join us at our house. The official family Thanksgiving is Saturday at their house when some other relatives will be in town. Between yesterday and Saturday we should have enough Turkey to last until Christmas. For half a decade or so, I have put off (ie. procrastinated) getting a meat thermometer. Yesterday, while the turkey cooked, I went to Walmart to get a meat thermometer, some ice cream, and a few essential non-essentials only to find that I wasn’t alone. I thought I would get to park right by the door but still had to park a distance before trekking around Wally World. Who needs a gym when you shop at Walmart! I did find a few things at the store for which to be thankful even if I don’t understand it. I felt sorry for the poor guy in line in front of me who had to produce his birth certificate, social security card, photo id, bring in three unrelated people to vouch for him, and give a blood sample before he could pay with a check. I sure hope there was a valid reason for the hassles. In America we should not have present papers simply because you look Hispanic. Do our schools teach any history anymore? Can people not draw the parallels between WWII Japanese and how we locked away American citizens because of their Japanese ancestry and today how we hassle American Hispanic citizens because of immigration politicism. Do people not see the risk of another race war hidden behind the word "immigrant?" Have we forgotten our Schoolhouse Rock Great American Melting Pot lyrics?
Whoops. How do these soap boxes keep getting under my feet? Yesterday was a thankful day. I brought a long standing project to a close. I was able to relax instead of spend the day in uncertainty and panic. I was with family and they laughed and played. I am thankful to have found countless friends on the Internet (I dare not make a list of links for fear of leaving someone out or having this post extend endlessly) who share such fascinating stories. I am thankful to those who have helped us in so many ways during the extremely hard times. I am thankful that I am not out shopping today. I am thankful for my children; they make me smile! And everyone knows, I am extra thankful for my wife! She is my sun which I gravitate around; she warms my soul; provides me energy; and shines on me to make my darkness go. I can think of so many things for which to be thankful that I believe I could type this post until next Thanksgiving! I hope you are thankful too.
Update: Illegal immigrant saves 9 year old boy’s life.
add a commentHappy Thanksgiving! November 22, 2007 3:25 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Holiday, Thanksgiving , add a commentWe take this day off to celebrate that they gave us the knowledge we needed to grow food for the winter; we gave them smallpox.
add a commentWKRP Thanksgiving Turkey Drop November 21, 2007 12:18 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Holiday, Humor, Publishing, Thanksgiving, Video , 1 comment so farI’m sure Youtube will pull this one quickly. So enjoy this wonderful piece of history while you can.
1 comment so farAs God as my witness..I thought turkeys could fly.
I was attacked on Halloween by zombies! November 1, 2007 8:06 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Halloween, Holiday , 2comments
Last night we had a wonderful time. Since our neighborhood is historically dead, we go to a friend’s neighborhood which is Pleasantville perfect. Our zombie horde dragged their feet and moaned their way into a Pleasantville street party. All the neighbors had brought food out ala potluck and one neighbor hired a dj to play music allowing the children to dance in their driveway. The street was packed but opened up as a tractor pulled a hay ride into the cove. The "hey ride" shuttle circled the neighborhood for a couple of hours giving young tired feet a fun rest. Our four zombies (one, two, three, four) where accompanied by a friend zombie and German shepherd, a poodle, mini-Shaun, and me.
The neighborhood was ideal with neighbors socializing and laughing, people crowding the streets, no one getting angry as children cut through yards and landscaping. I didn’t see the slutty outfits that we experienced last year but we did arrive earlier this year. Everyone was so friendly and many houses were decorated for the scene. One even had a rock band playing at stadium volume.
The 17 year old and 5 year old wore out quickly. The 2 year old would tire then find another wind. When we stopped trick or treating for the evening, I think he could have kept going but was really done. The two teen girls could have gone all night and the pre-teen boy found a friend’s house and could have played all night. I was attacked by Zombies. One adult identified me and cackled. A teenage boy laughed as he identified me and declared me to have "the coolest costume ever!" And I think one other person got it with a chuckle but only have being clued in during an explanation to a little girl about the blood on my shirt "There’s zombies everywhere! I’m being chased by zombies. Heading to the Winchester!"
Update: We’ve receive honor from Barry for Picture of the Week! Thanks Barry!
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