Great, great grandfather? Or just Great Grandfather?

WEADOCK, Thomas Addis Emmet

(1850—1938)

WEADOCK, Thomas Addis Emmet, a Representative from Michigan; born in Ballygarrett, County Wexford, Ireland, on January 1, 1850; immigrated to the United States in infancy with his parents, who settled on a farm near St. Marys, Auglaize County, Ohio; educated in the common schools and the Union School at St. Marys; taught school in the counties of Auglaize, Shelby, and Miami for five years; was graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in March 1873; was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in Bay City, Mich.; served in the State militia 1874-1877; prosecuting attorney of Bay County in 1877 and 1878; chairman of the Democratic State conventions in 1883 and 1894; mayor of Bay City 1883-1885; member of the board of education of Bay City in 1884; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses (March 4, 1891-March 3, 1895); chairman, Committee on Mines and Mining (Fifty-third Congress); declined to be a candidate for reelection in 1894; delegate at large to the Democratic National Convention in 1896; resumed the practice of law in Bay City, and later moved to Detroit, and continued to practice; unsuccessful Democratic candidate for judge of the supreme court of Michigan in 1904; appointed a professor of law in the University of Detroit in 1912; appointed an associate justice of the State supreme court in 1933; died in Detroit, Mich., November 18, 1938; interment in St. Patrick’s Cemetery, Bay City, Mich.

Self Saboteur

I feel dark today...in a good way though. It's grey and rainy out and quite comfy. Just got a new camera to replace our stolen one, so it will soon be time to start with the abandoned places project. We have company coming over tonight, so there is much cleaning to be done. As per usual.
Need to make a couple of lists and prepare for an organize my life night, I'm thinking Monday evening. I'll be on my own and can spend some thought on things.

Lists:
Top five problems at work
Five things that can make paying bills easier
Five fun things to do with Micah
Top five worries and a first step to make each better
Five things that will make me healthier and happier

It's all about taking it out of your head and putting it on paper (or digitally!) and then using the brainspace for the now.

This also relates well to Full Catasatrophe Living's principle of whereever you are, being fully there, not lost in the past or pondering the future.

There's my homework due before Monday night.

"Life hacks"

So i'm completely taken with 43 Folders podcast...I need some personal development and to foster a little creativity at work. Jennifer has been great about helping me be creative and supporting me, as well as listening to me vent about the stresses of support ops.
Also, it's time for me to get a job description...I'm a bit torn between worker bee and managing, er, bee? and there is a bit of friction with all the changes going on.
Micah, well, he's Micah, but we had a good experience playing soccer with some neighborhood kids just now. We're still struggling with him only thinking about his wants and not playing well or sharing with other kids. It's definitely a control thing for him.

Fast Forward

It's like listening to three albums playing at 78, writing down the lyrics while refinishing the floor and calculating pi to the 200th decimal.
I can't seem to keep up and it feels as though important things are slipping through my fingers.
While I do enjoy going ninety miles an hour at work, other things start to lock up. Like talking to friends, playing games or having a personality.
When I sat down at the computer just now, my first thought was to log onto my office computer and get some more work done. My second thought was to so not do that.
I'm thrilled that Micah got into the swimming pool today and tried to celebrate as much as humanly possible with him...but when I was outside telling G my work woes (so Micah doesn't hear me bitching on his special night) he came outside with me. A neighbor kid who is a year older than Micah came outside to say hello and Micah wouldn't even speak to him. I chatted with him a bit and then said we had to go finish dinner.
When I asked Micah why, he said he was thinking about himself, not about talking to anyone else. And yet, he said that he would be upset if someone ignored him. I just don't get it! I try to be a good example for him and try to make him understand what it takes to make friends.
Still, today falls under the heading of positive...he got in the pool. Small victories. Small steps.

Minor victories...and minor losses

So I'm noticing a negative trend to these posts. On a positive note, today I made it out of work at 4:30 and went and picked up the kiddo, who had a pretty good day at Soccer Camp. Yay! He has promised that tomorrow he's going to swim, although I'll believe it when I see it.
It's a nice evening, and although we didn't do much, it's been very liveable. Micah's in the shower now, after our trip to the drug store to get me decongestant and lozenges, the latest PC Magazine, and chocolate.
I've got Cinnamon Road by Shawn Colvin stuck in my head, although that isn't a bad thing at all.
The funnest moment of the weekend was Micah and I, with occasional input from Ginger, driving, listening to the Arrogant Worms and singing along with them. While Micah sings well, and with enthusiasm, I sound like a wounded mammoth, but it was a nice moment.
Any song that teaches you what makes up DNA or defines "ductility" has got to be worth memorizing.

Oh Cinnamon Road
That's where we would go
To try and feel better

Oh hot summer breeze
Tops of the trees
Reachin forever

So you take all the things that you felt then
And never did show
With a picture in your head of somebody
That you never did know
Put em all in a box and you leave em
Down Cinnamon Road
But all the money in the world is never gonna
Let you go

Oh where did you go
Cinnamon Road
I wanna feel better

Oh bibles and beads
Stacks of degrees
Reachin forever

So you take all the things that you felt then
And never did show
With a picture in your head of somebody
That you never did know
Put em all in a box and you leave em
Down Cinnamon Road
But all the money in the world is never gonna
Let you go

All them money in the world...

innocence lost has been an ongoing theme lately in random conversations. on the whole, i suppose it's a good thing, but relationships get more complex, people become jaded and cynical and more and more walls get built. Conversely, we learn and adapt and realize the worth of things that we previously considered extraneous or superfluous.

i'm feeling a bit jaded and cynical tonight, but it's nice to see Micah talking quietly as he gets ready for bed. There's hope for tomorrow.

It ain't easy being a parent...

Rough day. Very rough day. It just seems to easy for kids to say hurtful things. Granted, I think it is just a way of lashing out, without thinking about how it really affects those he's lashing out at. I really feel for Ginger, having to deal with such an insolent and often surly kid, who isn't even hers. He melted down today after being lectured for running into the street (the second time in two days!) and was a complete jerk in Target. To the point that he got spanked by both G and I. He made the mistake of saying that he was stupid, that we were ugly people and that he was gonna tell his mother that we beat him. Which, of course, we are going to tell Jessica about.
Then, after I had walked him to the car, he made the hideous comment that Ginger didn't love him at all. This was right after I told him that no matter how mad I get at him, I don't ever forget how much I love him.
My patience is thin and frail. Micah had to write 35 sentences and clean up the dog poop as punishment. I so just want to crawl into bed and crank up the iPod with the most recent Ungodly Hour on it and shut out the world.
I know G wants kids, and it is obvious what a wonderful mother she is, but I have serious doubts about my parenting skills. I try hard but Micah isn't easy.
Okay. Positive things. We got the dogs washed, I did some yard work and we planted more basil today. G got a massage, although she's earned about twenty...
More later, as I clutch my sanity grimly about me and charge back into the fray. Perhaps we should rename Micah "Cthuhlu" for the effect he has on us. That being said, I do love him and always will.

Seeing the world through peril sensitive sunglasses

It's hard not to. G noted tonight "What kind of parent would send thier child to the other parents house for two weeks without ANYTHING. No clothes, toys, books, nothing. That is a sterling example of not seeing things from the perspective of what's best for your child. What's worse, it didn't even occur to me that she would, even if asked.

My theme for me during Micah's visit is "Cool, calm and collected." I'm going to try very hard to stay, mellow, i guess for lack of a better word, and not let the small stuff get me irritated. Or angry. And I'm going to be aware of how being in a more positive and reassuring atmosphere will be better for Micah. Or try really hard anyway.

G is being wonderful through this. It never ceases to amaze me how much she makes me a better parent, and how I can never repay her for all the wonderful things she's done for Micah by loving him and keeping his interests and developement in mind. Truly, truly she has reserved her slot in heaven or built up a lifetime's worth of karma just for that continual act alone.