People

1 Comment Posted on fatherhood, parenting, People, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: The Giant Slingshot at Your Cousin’s 6th Birthday Party

6 years, 7 months.

Dear Jack,

Last weekend, our family traveled to Fort Payne, Alabama; which is 2 hours and 40 minutes away. It would be a slightly longer drive, but we make no pit stops since Mommy and I refuse to stop along the way once both you and your sister are asleep.

It was your cousin Calla’s 6th birthday party… and it was a big one!

Your Uncle Andrew and Aunt Dana got a huge “jumpy house” for the backyard. I’ve never seen one that big for a private birthday party. It even had a slide!

But at least for you, the main attraction was the humongous slingshot that Papa and Uncle Andrew had built to launch water balloons.

Apparently, the object was to land the water balloon into the small plastic wading pool on the other side of the yard.

However, you were the only boy at the party. So it only makes sense that it didn’t take too long for a new goal to present itself…

You decided to make yourself a human target for the launching.

That’s right: Who can hit Jack with a water balloon, using this giant slingshot?

It was that event that made it obvious you were the only boy there at the party. Granted, you had no issues feeling out of place. I’m not sure that you even noticed you were the only boy.

But once you made yourself the human target on there for the giant slingshot, it was almost the equivalent of someone bringing a puppy to the party.

It was sort of like having a Labrador retriever running around the party. As if someone should have said, “Hey, why is that dog running around here?!”

My guess is, those little girls didn’t mind the opportunity to try to blast a boy their own age with a water balloon, with the help of a giant sling shot.

Yeah, it’s so obvious you’re a boy.

Love,

Daddy

1 Comment Posted on fatherhood, Health, parenting, People, Storytelling, Uncategorized, vegan

Dear Holly: Sharing Spinach Snacks with Your Brother’s Dinosaur? Or Simply Making Them Disappear Another Way?…

1 year, 2 months.

Dear Holly,

Tuesday when I came home from work, the first thing you and Mommy and your brother did was check out our new ride for this week, the 2017 Toyota 4Runner. Twenty minutes later, we finally made our way back into the kitchen.

While Mommy made pizza, and your brother made fossils from his dinosaur toys and Play-Doh, I helped feed you a new bar that Mommy picked up last weekend at Kroger: Happy Tot Organics Fiber & Protein Soft-Baked Oat Bar, Apples and Spinach flavor.

I told Mommy, “Wow, look at Holly! She really likes this apple and spinach snack bar. We need to keep buying these!”

As I was pinching off little clusters for you so that could easily consume them, I noticed you were really intrigued by what your brother was doing with his dinosaurs.

So I borrowed one that had an open mouth, and stuffed one of the clusters in it. You loved the challenge of using your little fingers to remove the green food from the Triceratops’ mouth. To heighten the theatrics of the event, I made low-pitch growling sounds, in an effort to convince you that he dinosaur was wrestling you for the food.

You growled back and you ate the bar, cluster by cluster.

Finally, the bar was gone and I had to open a 2nd one for you!

A few clusters into it though, you finally had your fill. At that point, I took you out of your high chair and we played on the carpet with your toys until dinner was ready.

Fast forward to about an hour and a half later, after you and your brother were asleep, and Mommy and I were finishing up cleaning the kitchen.

As Mommy was wiping down your high chair, she commented, “Either Holly dropped a lot of these bits from that bar… or she was hiding them down here the whole time!”

Hmmm…

Holly, you may have done an excellent job of successfully convincing me you were actually eating those apple and spinach bars. Perhaps I was so caught up in playing dinosaur with you, that you were secretly just dropping the clusters beside you without me ever realizing it.

If so, nicely done!

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on car reviews, fatherhood, parenting, People, Recipes, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: The Mad Rush to Get You to Your 1st Violin Lesson on Time!

6 years, 7 months.

Dear Jack,

Today was a pretty interesting day…

This morning was an exciting in itself, as it made the first morning that you and your sister got to ride in the 2017 Toyota Highlander we are driving this week. With almost with no words necessary, you immediately adopted the 3rd row seat as your own.

Your sister was jolly as usual, enjoying the view up at you from her 2nd row seat. You loved how I let you out; through the back hatch door, so you could just jump out.

But while it was a good morning, it ended up being sort of a strange afternoon…

I received a call from Mommy while I was at work, which was unusual. She explained she was stuck in stand still traffic on I-65 and that it would be impossible for her to be able to pick you up in time from your school, then take you to your first official violin lesson. (A couple of weeks ago you got fitted for your violin, but today was the big day to actually start learning how to play it.)

Mommy told me your violin lesson would be beginning at 4:00. That only gave me 40 minutes from that point to finish up at work, drive to your school, then rush to the music academy where your lessons would be taking place.

Normally, to drive from Cool Springs to Spring Hill, on a good day, would take a solid 45 minutes… if I was lucky. But because the Interstate was essentially shut down, I would have to take the back roads instead; which only increased the challenge.

By the time I was pulling out of the parking lot, it was 3:25 on the dot; that gave me just 35 minutes to get your to your violin lesson on time.

It take a miracle to make this happen!

With a little bit of high tempo inspiration from Metallica pumping through the speakers (because, of course, who else?!), and the power of the 4Runner’s V-6 engine, I took advantage of my ability to make it through every about-to-change-from-green-to-yellow traffic light.

I can honestly say I didn’t speed, because in Nashville traffic, that’s just not an option: there are too many cars in front of you even if you tried. It must have been because I left work at an unusual time, far enough ahead of rush hour traffic, that I was able to achieve the impossible:

At 3:58 PM, with 2 minutes to spare, you were flying out of the back hatch of the 4Runner!

I still think that we must of cheated the laws of physics to get there on time, but somehow, we arrived with moments to spare!

And what can I say? Hey, you’re a smart kid. You soaked up every word your violin teacher, Gabrielle, had to say.

Tonight, after Mommy read you a bedtime story, you impressed her by giving her a violin lesson of her own.

So yeah, it was a pretty interesting day.

Love,

Daddy

2 Comments Posted on infographic, People, Uncategorized

Entrepreneur Spotlight: Brian Leach (Sponsored Post)

DISCLOSURE LANGUAGE

I received compensation for my time. I have not been told what to purchase or what to say about any product mentioned in these posts. Consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. These policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.

Passion for efficiency and integrated workflow lead to the creation of Steelray and the Microsoft Project Viewer.

Observing a deficiency in a process lead one man to develop a new software and eventually open his own software development company. Brian Leach, is an entrepreneur, coder, and former Project Manager but above all, he is a man who listens to the needs of his clients and addresses them with a solution to streamline their workflow. Brian once said, “I’ve found that most good new products come from a need and one or two enabling technologies.” Brian was able to identify several software needs and in turn created a solution providing ease of use to users while simultaneously enhancing the deficient software’s original capabilities.

Who: Brian Leach is the Founder and CEO of Steelray and the creator of Steelray’s Microsoft Project Viewer. His resume is impressive, and he has worked as a Project Manager or Consultant for the likes of Harris Computer Systems, Ford Motor Company, IBM, Motorola, Cygnus Solutions, and Red Hat. Brian has a Bachelor’s Degree in Math from Emory University and a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Brian developed a software for Project Managers in industries which rely on broad and complex schedules, like construction and national defense.

Brian took his passion for Project Management and created a business. He is now the President and CEO of Steelray.

What: After years of relevant work, Brian personally encountered several issues and limitations while using the most common project management software, Microsoft Project & Portfolio Management (Microsoft PPM). He worked to devise several workarounds which as a result, streamlined his personal workflow, however at the time he used those efficiencies for himself and his team. He would later go on to develop an ever-evolving software enhancement for Microsoft PPM, and under the company he created Steelray, he would launch Microsoft Project Viewer. Microsoft Project Viewer is also compatible with other project management software solutions like Microsoft Project 98 through Project 2016, Excel, Primavera .XER, and UN/CEFACT XML files.

When: In the mists of the dot-com bubble Brian, ventured into independent business ownership and actively pursued the launch of Microsoft Project Viewer. In 2000 he left all the comforts of working for someone else to continue his dream, but success and sales did not take off until the end of 2003 and early 2004. Now Microsoft Project Viewer is a well-known and trusted software solution for Project Managers nationwide.

Where: Brian and the Steelray team is based out of Atlanta, Georgia, but they have clients located all over the United States.

Why: As a Project Manager Brian encountered several issues with Microsoft PPM including unnecessary complexities involving printing and viewing project details, schedule maintenance, and exorbitant overhead costs.

First, Brian noticed that the printing functionality offered by Microsoft PPM was limited when you were working with compounding schedules. He observed the tediousness required to print out and tape together large calendars, for the simple purpose of getting a holistic overview of a plan and even then, the schedule lacked many of the essential details which could only be accessed on screen and within the software. In response, Brian developed new printing standards for Microsoft Project Viewer. Users can preview all pages, on page, or the actual page size before printing. This seemingly simple feature gives users the ability to condense the overall size of the printout and number of pages required for each schedule. Microsoft Project Viewer also provides users with the option to control the page size, orientation, and header data.

When companies opt to utilize Microsoft PPM every stakeholder in the project needs to have a license for the software to efficiently view and alter the ever-changing schedule and task lists. Considering this type of software is utilized by companies in industries with numerous stakeholders, like construction or National defense, the cost to procure a license for everyone is expensive. Essentially, this process made each member of the task force a pseudo Project Manager because they were required to update their progress within the software regularly. Microsoft Project Viewer eliminates some of the overhead cost because only the Project Manager needs a license for Microsoft PPM software as long as the other members have access to the less expensive Microsoft Project Viewer.

Plus, Brian developed a web-based script which allows all users with Microsoft Project Viewer to send updates to the Project Manager who then inputs the information into the schedule on Microsoft PPM. Amazingly, Microsoft Project Viewer presents all the information in a similar manner as Microsoft PPM. So Gantt charts and schedules appear almost identical in both software solutions. Once the Project Manager makes the update, the other team members can see what tasks are complete, what is left to do, who is assigned to each job, and when things are forecasted for completion.

Brian and the entire Steelray team has made it easier than ever to streamline your team’s schedules without incurring unnecessary overhead. If you are interested in learning more about Microsoft Project Viewer, consider trying the free 10-day trial.

3 Comments Posted on car reviews, fatherhood, parenting, People, Storytelling, Uncategorized

I am So Excited about the 2017 Toyota 4Runner I Get to Drive This Week!

“Give me fuel, give me fire, give me that which I desire!”

Those were the magic words I spoke, which caused my 2004 Honda Element to mysteriously morph into a 2017 Toyota 4Runner 4X4 Limited V6.

It’s like how Cinderella’s pumpkin turned into a wondrous carriage pulled by horses. Only way cooler.

So for the next nine days, until the clock strikes 11:30 AM on July 6th, I will get to be the proud driver of this undeniably tough (yet charming) machine of glory.

In the dozens of vehicles of featured on my blog over the years, my very favorite was the Toyota Tacoma. So obviously I have been looking forward for months now, knowing that a Toyota 4Runner was being delivered to me this week; as I find the two vehicles to be similar to each other.

This thing has the elegant look of a Storm Trooper, yet the unpredictable great power of Darth Vader.

Seriously, I am going to be so cool this week.

I’ve already had several co-workers stop me and tell me how jealous they are.

This 4Runner taps into a pocket of my psyche that I typically keep subdued on my blog.

After all, I’m the Family Friendly Daddy Blogger. Readers have certain demographic expectations of me:

Take lots of cute pictures of my kids while telling cute stories about them. Rinse and repeat.

And that’s what I will provide for my readers over the next week or so, as we enjoy some awesome upcoming adventures, being the Chip and Joanna Gaines kind of family that we truly are.

But this is me, breaking the 4th wall, to say, “I am a conservative husband and father living in the Suburbs… hear me roar!”

I suddenly feel so in control.

So powerful.

So… alive.