spring cleaning...

i went into this weekend thinking i was finally going to change the template of this site and give it a completely different look. i've noticed the trend, for those of us who still 'blog, is to go clean and simple. i had it weeded down to a couple of different templates but in the end, i just decided that the payoff wasn't worth the effort. and yes, i went through this in november too. i've always been one to change it up every couple of years but it's just not going to happen any time soon. my reader base (yes, both of you) has not been demanding a new look and i'm still ok with it for the most part. i did do some condensing, (you may notice a few of my pages are gone) and put all non-blog content on one page, the "about" page. i still have the youtube page and the links page (for now) but i plan on doing some further trimming soon. i also scrapped some of the fluff i had on the main page. so, it's not dramatic but it is cleaner than it was. more soon...

let me show you how i work, work, work

yesterday was take your children to work day. i had the whole family unit meet for lunch in the cafeteria and then my girls "shadowed" me for the rest of the day. it mostly amounted to them surfing their favorite websites (webkinz, american girl, etc) but they did help me set up a couple of computers for new users starting on monday. so, new user, if your pc doesn't boot up properly on monday, it's not my fault. you'll have to register your complaints elswhere.

couple of birthday shoutouts today...

my bff jstenester

al - who never, ever reads this blog

my dad (yesterday) who only occasionally reads this blog

making plans...

the wife and i have procrastinated even longer than usual this year with regards to planning a summer vacation. we usually wait til the last minute, afraid to commit to anything until we have done all of the necessary research and planning. we are finally comfortable with proclaiming massachusetts as our summer vacation destiny 2008-style. many of you know we have 2 sets of relatives near boston so it just makes a lot of sense. we can spend time with family while enjoying all of the things about this old city that we know and love. the culture, history, and landscape of beantown makes it one of my favorite city's not to mention cape cod, the beaches, and the redsox. not sure at this point if we'll get to check off all of the sights on our list, but we'll do what we can. although we have not purchased airfare or car rental yet, nor have i requested any time off, plans are being solidified for an august trip. there, it feels good to post this. makes it seem more official now.

every second counts...

if you're like me, and i know i am, you constantly find yourself leaving for work later and later every day. for me it starts the night before, maybe staying up later than usual to watch a sporting event, or you're engrossed in some vicious on-line call of duty 4 action and keep putting off bedtime. now, if you're a morning guy, it's probably no issue for you but for night creatures like me, rolling out of the rack is the toughest thing i have to do all day. here's a couple of things you can do do to shave off a few minutes in the morning and stay in bed until the last possible second:

get an electric shaver. i know, this was a tough sell for me. i've always been a razor guy. but i discovered that you can slosh on some lectric shave and run the remington around your face in about 90 seconds. shaving with a razor and foam takes 4 minutes at least and that's pushing it.

if you're a coffee guy (and if you're not - what's wrong with you?) make the coffee and set the timer the night before. many modern day coffee makers have built-in timers so you can have a fresh cup of java as soon as you get up. even if yours doesn't you can still set it up at night and just flip the button "on" in the morning. yes, a no brainer but you'd be suprised at how many people mess with this in the morning. nothing kills precious minutes in the morning like brewing a pot of joe.

buy a two-in-one shampoo\conditioner. i know there are plenty of metrosexuals who would never do this. that's fine, but if your hair is cut short (like mine) as long as it's clean, does it really matter? i mean, let's face it, unless you're a male model or play bass in a punk rock band, it should not take 15 minutes to "do" your hair. i can wash my hair and be done in less than two minutes. if you can shower the night before, even better but i need the a.m. shower as part of my waking up process.

pick your clothes for the next day the night before. another no brainer but shame on you if you stare at your closet in the morning looking for something to wear. it's all there at night too! pick something and go with it. that means shoes, socks, belt, the works. this means pressing your shirt and pants at night too.(if applicable). heating up the iron in the morning is for suckers.

if you pack your own lunch, yes, do it the night before. make it a part of your nightly ritual so that it's second nature. you grab your lunch out of the fridge in the morning and go...it's really that simple.

following one or more of these simple tips will help you trim precious minutes off of your morning routine and get you out the door in the quickest way possible. it works for me, and it can work for you too.
this has been a psa from thirdthoughts.com.

grinding it out...

with the april foolishness over, its time to get back to business. allie had minor surgery on friday, it went well and she's recovering, however she's unable to do much of anything. the dr. said climbing stairs was the worst thing she could do and unfortunately both the bedroom and shower are on our second floor. i've had to step it up a couple of notches and take on the domestic tasks. i've been grocery shopping, cleaned the house, done several loads of laundry, washed dishes, given baths, planned and made meals, ironed clothes, etc., and this is only the third day. it's amazing the amount of dirty clothes and dishes that accumulate in such a short time-span. a fact that i guess i was oblivious to until recently. we've been in survival-mode before but it's on a new scale now. fortunately we have family who are helping out with busing the kids around and other things. to make it even more of a challenge, i've developed a nice little head cold. we'll get through this soon and move on. i hope that allie heals quickly and is feeling her old self soon. i've always said she's the brains behind this operation and the one that makes this household go. without her, we're just getting by.

sorry, i was...

if it's not obvious yet, the april 1 post was a complete fallacy. some may even call it a "lie" which sounds harsh but may be technically true. you've been punked, duped, skiprolled, or worst of all - relieved. it was just my little attempt at a hoax. i hadn't schemed this for weeks previous or anything like that, i was just mulling an idea for an overdue post and the thought of an april fools prank just seemed too tempting to pass up. now, it didn't send a shockwave through the entire blogosphere community, as i'd secretly hoped, nor was there any sort of "ripple effect" where people were offering to pay me off if i didn't sell my domain name, and to my knowledge no one painted "save thirdthoughts" on a water tower, but it did produce a few emails from friends and family that were concerned about how to deal with the unthinkable. i won't mistake your percieved apathy for the cult-like devotion that i know my hardcore reader(s) have. the domain "thirdthought" does exist as a consulting company's website however and if you are reading this, i could be convinced to entertain any offers for the domain name "thirdthoughts.com" that you might have. in the meanwhile, rest easy that thirdthoughts is alive and kicking, always willing and able to offer you whit and wisdom and the occasional glimpse into my daily life that you've come to know and love.

thats all folks!

hello, remember me? haven't posted for awhile as there's been a lot of stuff going on. the big news?: i was contacted by a consulting company last week who offered to buy my domain name "thirdthoughts.com". previously their domain name was "thirdthought" (see link). it's not a lot of money, but it's enough where i'd be stupid not to sell it to them. that said, after today i'll be taking this blog down. i'm not sure if i'll be creating a new one or not as it has started to become more work than it is really worth. if i do, i'll send a new link to the people i know that read this blog on a regular basis. thanks for all the years of loyal readership! it's been fun.