(this is) durkin.org

Sorry about the title, couldn’t resist. Reilly started Taekwondo (also on Wikipedia) a few weeks ago, and is seen here demonstrating part of a self-defense movement that he learned.

The class is amazing - the focus is on discipline, focus and manners with some exercise and very basic Taekwondo thrown in.

For example, they learned a routine, or form as Instructor Paul says, and each movement (block, punch, step or kick) is accompanied by a sound. Instead of “hiyah!” these kids learn things like “I love my Mommy” (as they block), “Excuse Me Sir” (as they punch), etc.

My favorite part of the class (besides the obvious - watching a bunch of four-year-olds do martial arts) is what Reilly is (hopefully) learning about focus, self-discipline and his own abilities.

Daddy, do I have diamonds on the soles of my shoes?

It’s all good. More or less.

The fellas and I have had a pretty good week, all things considered. We did the zoo, we did the gym, we ate out, we grilled at home, we played in the yard, we played at the park, we watched a movie, we listened to some music, yada, yada, yada.

But I think we are wearing a little thin; I know that I am. We all miss MR, so that is a bit stressful. And then there is the napping / sleeping thing¹, which is very stressful right now.

MR comes home tomorrow, which is wonderful². And I know that the napping / sleeping thing will work itself out, I just hope that we have the collective patience.

But don’t get me wrong, as trying as it can be / has been from time to time this week, I am lucky to be able to have this kind of time with them. I have them all to myself, and get to see them do things, and do things with them that I don’t usually; and I am thankful for this time.

Once I get a little more sleep, I’ll be even more thankful.

Six down, one to go.

1. Dobbs is thrilled that he can get out of bed at will, and so he does with great frequency. Both of them are thrilled to have a playmate in the same room, and are apparently waking each other up to play. Which is great and all, except when they are currently sleeping about 2-3 hours less per day than usual, as nap time is an abbreviated joke and they take longer to get to sleep at night and get up earlier. «
2. And not just because we will be back to man-to-man coverage. «

To paraphrase a favorite movie quote of mine - Never f_ck with nap time.

We are totally f-ing with nap time.

Things were not going well again today, so I thought I’d intervene. I tried warnings, threats, coaxing, singing, ignoring and soon realized that it wasn’t looking good.

So I did what any 30-something parent, frantic with the need for some nap-down-time / work-time, would do - I sought the help of my trusty friend the google-indexed Internet, I found someone with some sensible (seeming) advice:

Something that I saw (on SuperNanny!) was to sit on the floor in the darkened, quiet room, and every time they get out of bed, pick them up and lay them back in bed, not saying a word. I wonder if this would work for you?¹

I stayed in there for about 20 minutes, and it was worth every second - It actually worked for one of them.

Update @ 9:30 PM: Here’s what I get for being smug - Since Dobbs can now get out of bed at will, and since he actually napped some today and therefore is not zonked, he has left the room four times since I put them to bed at 8:00. I am not looking forward to staying in their room for half an hour every time they “go to sleep.”

It’s all about learning new habits, right? Should only take a week or so. Or four.

1. Did I really just quote a freakin’ parents’ bulletin board site? Oye. «

Some time ago, a woman my wife knows said that she likes to go to church on Sunday if only to have some time away from her kid. We thought at the time that her attitude was a bit out of whack, and still do, but I can’t deny that there is some bit of truth in the notion.

This morning, after a pretty nice morning at home, we made it to church on time. The boys were a bit wrinkled, but we were there.

After, we hit Lowe’s¹ and then the Moose for lunch.

Napping was still not so good again. I left shortly after putting them to bed for a soccer game, and the sitter told me she thinks they slept, but since they cut off their monitor² she wasn’t sure.

All in, a very good day³.

Two down, five to go.

1. In what was the fastest trip ever for me. «
2. It makes me a bit nervous that they know to do that. «
3. And not just because I left for three hours. «

MR has two out-of-town work engagements this week¹ which will keep her gone for the entire week², so the boys and I are once again kicking it bachelor-style.

To make this more interesting, last night we moved Dobbs into a big-boy-bed³ in the “Room Formerly Known as Reilly’s.” Given that our household is expanding in terms of people, but not rooms, we had to move the boys into one room in order to have a nursery for the baby.

So. Last night went well: they played and partied for a little while, but eventually went to sleep with no harm done. Today’s nap was an entirely different story. I left them in there for two hours. Two solid hours of laughing, screaming, throwing, crying, singing, running and jumping, reading, playing, sneaking into the kitchen and dumping the dogs’ drinking water out kind of fun. And then I let them out.

The room was a wreck.

Right now, though, they are out. I put them down just a bit early, and am pretty sure they were both asleep before I made it to the door. So we’ll see how that goes.

Otherwise, today was good - took mom to the airport this morning, then soccer and playtime at the park, then lunch, the aforementioned no-nap and some fun in the backyard before an early dinner and bath. Not bad.

Tomorrow: Church.

1. The first is a business launch in LA and the second is Arbonne’s National Training Conference in Las Vegas. «
2. That’s right - Saturday to Friday. Piece of cake. «
3. Otherwise known as a regular twin bed «

I am growing a bit concerned.

Last night, or rather early this morning, I dreamed that I was Bill Berry, and that I played a surprise show with R.E.M. (billed as The 4Daves) in LA in 1990.  Without a drum kit.  With a clown as a roadie.

When I woke up this morning, in my dream I was in the midst of improperly assembling a hi-hat cymbal.

A few weeks ago, we went to the Georgia Aquarium¹. (selected pics) As we were walking up to the entrance, feeling very proud of ourselves for having arrived so early, etc, etc, MR’s shoe broke.

That almost took the wind out of our sails.

The part that connected the straps to the footbed between her toes snapped off². We quickly discovered that the Georgia Aquarium Gift Shop sells just about everything except footwear, and we were in the middle of downtown Atlanta before most clothing stores even open.

Luckily, one of the guys who worked there found some duct tape for me, and we were ready to go.

MR says it wasn’t the most comfortable shoe she has ever worn, but it certainly did the job. And don’t worry, I wrapped an inner-layer of tape inside-out to protect her skin.

1. Not for the first time, mind you; we have been there twice, to the Tennessee Aquarium twice, to the Gulfarium once, some other -arium place at the beach, the Dauphin Island Estuarium and to the World of Water exhibit at the McWane Center more times than I can count. We have a thing about fishes, you see. «
2. One a relatively new-ish pair, mind you. «

I am not an IT guy, but I understand the need for standards and security and such. I get it, I really do. But that doesn’t mean I like it, or that I won’t try to get around it if I can. Mostly, I can’t¹. Here, however, are two instances where I seem to be getting away with something.

I really do not like Lotus Notes. I tried, for about a day, to like it, but to no avail. I know there are diehard uses and folks who really dig the LN way, but I just don’t. And won’t. I am and have always been an Outlook user.

So a few years ago I went looking for a solution to my little LN problem. Thanks to Google, I found many; among them this little gem - the Outlook Connector for Domino².

I’ll spare us all my attempts at being a technical writer and give you the short story: the install instructions are very solid, and MS is not kidding about the fact that users will not have the complete LN / Domino functionality (nor the complete Outlook / Exchange functionality, for that matter). Oh, and be ready for a serious hang-up the first time you try to view your Calendar in Outlook - my PC seized up for about 40 minutes.

While we are on the whole Outlook tip - I recently read an interesting article over at Lifehacker on antifiling. Essentially that means do away with your folder structure(s) for saving email and just save all sent and received mail in date-based folders, then rely on sort and search to manage the data.

Love it. No more folder trees for projects, sub-projects and archived projects, plus personal stuff. Oye. Now I just have a folder for 2006 Mail and everything is in there. Everything. Since you can use multiple PST files in Outlook, I exported each year as a separate PST file and then added each one to OL. This way, I have almost instant access via search³ to any email I have sent or received (crashes and data loss aside) since 2001.

I’m dork enough to really like that. And to write about it, apparently.

I also really do not like ie6 (at least, not after I discovered FireFox). IE6 is, however, the default and only approved browser for my company. I figured they really didn’t care, and so installed and happily browsed with FF for about a year. Recently, they let me know they did care; I received four separate emails from three different IT folks telling me (and a ton of others in the Co) that FF is not an approved app, and that they were going to have to remove it.

Big deal, I thought, ie7 has tabbed browsing and is really pretty cool. So I complied. Only to find that our payroll software as well as our travel and expense software will not open in ie7. Will not. Only in ie6. Or FireFox.

But I couldn’t reinstall FF, and I couldn’t go back to ie6. And installing ie6 and ie7 on the same machine made me nervous⁴. Enter Portable Apps | Portable FireFox. Thank God for jump drives. And for Lifehacker, where I first read about Portable Apps⁵.

1. Or don’t even try, as I’m really a wimp when it comes to potential consequences «
2. It’s old news now, I know that, but I always meant to put something up here to outline what I did and the issues I ran into. «
3. LookOut, which is now part of Windows Desktop Search, but you can find the last version if you look hard «
4. OK, I just didn’t understand it «
5. And couldn’t for the life of me imagine needing to use them «