What's in a Name? and Preschool Already?

In the daily goings on of my day job I come across a new people every day.  I often meet people with... let's say "unique" names.  Today however, I ran across one that officially beats them all.  We came across a man who officially changed his name to "Bubba Bubba Bubba".  That's right.  "Bubba Bubba Bubba".  First name Bubba.  Middle name Bubba.  Last name Bubba.  His prior insurance policy was listed under the name "Bubba B. Bubba".  I am absolutely dumbfounded by this.  Why in the world would anyone willingly do this?  Do you really want to spend your entire life explaining to people that "no really, that is my name."?  I can completely understand going by "Bubba" as a nickname.  Heck, I can even understand it actually being your first name, but what compels a person to legally change their first, middle, and last name to Bubba?  Was their real name that bad?  What would his parents say?  As a man who is currently tasked with the job of naming a child I would totally take offense to this.  Knowing that I agonized over finding just the perfect name for a child and then to have them later in life change it to "Bubba Bubba Bubba" would totally be a slap in the face.   Let's just hope that I choose a name that my child will like enough to never want to change.

In other news, Breanne and I toured a preschool for Julia in the Fall.  Seriously?  How has this time come upon us already?  There is a really good school in town that offers a 2 1/2 days a week program for 2 1/2 year olds so we are going to try and get Julia into it.  How is it possible that my sweet little girl is going to be old enough to go to school already?  I know it's just preschool and that its only just a couple 1/2 days a week, but it seems like it has all gone really fast.  I can remember a time when Julia was itty bitty.  Certainly she can't be old enough for this yet.  She's still a baby right?  It oddly simultaneously feels like it was just born yesterday and yet an eternity ago all at the same time.  She is such a big girl already and it amazes me.  She talks in sentences and knows her colors, shapes and letters so I suppose she is ready for this, but I'm not sure that I am.  My little girl is growing up.  Before too long she will be too busy texting her friends and rolling her eyes at me and probably won't have time for her daddy.  At least for now, she still needs her papa bear and gives me lots of hugs.  I'm way to sentimental for my own good.

Bitter Sweet End

Four years ago I was introduced to what has become one of my most favorite television shows.  Tonight that show will air its final episode and leave the air waves forever.  The story of our nerdy friend "Chuck" is coming to a close.  For those who sadly do not know, "Chuck" is a show about an average Joe who accidentally gets a super computer uploaded into his brain.  This super computer allows him instant access to the CIA data base and also allows him to perform amazing feats of strength like Kung Fu and throwing ninja stars.  Its kind of like that scene in "The Matrix" when  Keanu Reeves exclaims "Dude, I know Kung Fu".  he may or may not have said "dude", but I have trouble picturing him speak without a few superfluous "dudes" thrown in. 

Anyway, I love that the show is so unrealistic and campy but it is still a lot of fun and done very well.  The story line catches you right from the beginning.  It has the whole "will they/won't they" story line about Chuck and his CIA handler Sarah as far as wondering if they will ever get together.  I won't spoil it for the many of you who have never watched the show, but just trust me, it's really good.

And that is the unfortunate part.  So many people have never watched "Chuck".  Every season the show has been on the precipice of cancellation but the small yet dedicated fan base have always rallied to get the show to come back.  This year, the show has finally decided to bring the season to a close on it's own terms.  This will allow them to finish up story lines and hopefully wrap everything up in a nice happy bow.  This is much more preferred than a mid season cancellation where everything is hastily brought to a conclusion. 

I'm a little bit behind and have been trying to play catch-up on my DVR.  So I probably will not get to watch tonight's episode live, but will definitely get to it very soon.  I believe we have 6 episodes to watch over the course of the weekend before we can watch the finale. 

It's bitter sweet to see the show go.  I'm happy they are bringing the show to a conclusion because it just feels right and like its time.  On the other hand, I'm so sad to see it go.  It's the first show that Breanne and I called "our show".  I believe that we have watched every episode together so to see it go will be sad.  We will have to find a new show for the two of us to watch.  This show is what spurred her to call me "Captain Awesome".  I had no idea what she was talking about until I discovered that there was a character on this show that they jokingly called "Captain Awesome".  When we were dating, she would tell her friends about me and from those stories, they nicknamed me "Captain Awesome" or simply "The Captain" for short.  I was very flattered, because I'm not quite as awesome as Devin is in the show.... but I'm close.  (not really).

Chuck is a show that never takes itself too seriously.  It teaches us that being a nerd is not a bad thing.  It celebrates the bonds between best friends, husband/wife, brother/sister, and coworkers.  It gives us all hope that even a nerd can end up with an impossibly hot woman.

So here's to you Chuck Bartowski!  Thank you for 4 years of fun.  I have enjoyed every moment.

Slacker

So for the three of you that actually read my blog, I'm sorry.  I have been quite the slacker as of late.  I've been super busy, but the real problem is that nothing super exciting or funny has happened to me.  At least nothing that I have felt was super blog-worthy.  So I haven't really had much of anything to write about.  Here are a few topics I've considered but never quite worked up the motivation to type it out.

I've considered ranting about politics, but I don't feel like starting arguments with people.  I just don't have the energy.  I'm actually quite informed on the issues and have firm opinions on many different matters but have absolutely zero desire to debate them.  Because in the end, I just don't feel like it matters.  Four years from now someone else will be in office and try and undo everything that was just done.  Then we blame the president for everything that's wrong with the world.  Its exhausting.  Life on earth is way too short to get too emotionally involved in politics so I do my best to not do so.  That means not stirring the pot.

I could talk about fatherhood and how ridiculously cute my little girl is.  Although the cuteness starts to wear out when your child begins to throw temper tantrums.  We had to implement the very first "time out".  Julia and I were having standoff over a bite of peas when the tantrums and fits began.  Threats were issued... "take a bite or you will go to time out".  And fits ensued so we went to time out.  Being the very first time out ever, we had yet to establish an official time out spot.  I found a random corner in the hallway and told her to stand there for 1 minute.  She proceeded to stand there, quite happily I might add, and talk about reindeer and baby dolls, and whatever else came to mind for the entire minute.  It was not a single bit traumatizing for her.  Once time out was over we tried to eat the peas again and she threw another fit.  So this time we tried time out in her crib.  This did the trick because the "end of the world" crying began.  The last bite of peas was eaten and all was well with the world.  Now when she plays with her baby dolls she puts them in their crib and says they are in "time out" and they are "crying".  What have we created!

I suppose I could also be blogging about the anxiety of second child that is on the way.  Although I can't really say that I have had much anxiety yet.  I am still happily in denial about the whole thing.  I still don't really feel like it is real yet, despite the fact that we are almost exactly 1/3 of the way there.  Maybe once we start actually making a place in our house for this little one or when we actually know if it is a boy or a girl then it will start to feel more real.  But until then, I will stave off any anxiety that may be on the way. 

Finally, I could blog about the incredible season that the St. Louis Blues are having!  They are currently in 3rd place in the entire league and are only 2 points behind the first place team.    The central division is crazy this year and three of the top four teams (Blues, Blackhawks, Redwings) in the entire NHL are from there.  I am so bummed that I have yet to attend a game this year and definitely need to get on that.  It makes me also regret cancelling our cable because I am now unable to watch any games at home. 

I suppose if I worked really hard at it I could come up with things to blog about on a more regular basis, but I just haven't really felt the compulsion.  Are people really interested in my "almost interesting but not quite" stories?  I don't really think so.  I will try my best quit being a slacker but will make no promises.

Hooligans and their Malicious Mischief

I have often talked about how when I am old I am going to be that guy that sits on my front porch and shakes his fist at the hooligans that pass by.  Yelling at them to get a hair cut and get off my lawn.  I may have to bump up this time line a little bit and start sitting on my front porch about 40 years earlier than I am currently anticipating. 

Last night at around 8pm a group of hooligans decided that it would be a great idea drive through several neighborhoods and shoot at houses with their paintball guns.  Now I'm assuming these were young hooligans, but I cannot be 100% certain.  They may also have been "ruffians" or "ne'er do wells". We woke up this morning to find two yellow splotches of paint on our house.  One one the garage door and one on the front door.  4 other houses around us were also hit. 

I called the police to make a report and it sounds like several neighborhoods were hit.  Unfortunately, there is not a whole lot that can be done about it.  It's so frustrating!  Maybe they can post this on our local Crime Stoppers page and a friend of theirs will rat them out in hopes for a cash reward!  I can only hope.  If the cops do catch them, I think they should have to come to each of the houses and scrub the paint off under each homeowners supervision.  I may or may not carry a bull whip as an incentive to keep working.  A guy can dream can't he?

I just don't understand the fun in driving around and vandalizing other peoples property.  I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that I am not 17 years old, but it just doesn't make sense to me.  I was 17 once before and it wasn't something that I would have found all that entertaining when I was that age either.  Don't these kids have homework or something to be working on?  Or probation service hours to finish up?  They seriously need to find something better to do with their time!

So my next question is this.... is paint ball paint easy to remove?  I haven't tried yet.  Anyone have any suggestions on what might work best?  Technically, this would be covered under my homeowners policy but its certainly not something I would pursue.  It's not even close to my deductible amount.  However, it is worth noting that the type of loss that it would be filed under always makes me laugh.  There are 16 categories of claims that are covered under homeowners insurance called "Named Perils".  This incident in particular would be filed under "Malicious Mischief".  I'm not sure why, but this always makes me laugh. 

Anyway... take notice you delinquent punks.  I'm watching you!  Vigilante justice is coming!  Ok, so not really.  I like to think that I can put on a cape and kick some tail, Batman style, but lets be honest.  That's not going to happen.

However, I will shake my fist at you with so much fury that it will strike fear to your very core!

My New Love

I have a new love in my life.  She's beautiful, efficient, and can make me a steaming hot cup of coffee in 30 seconds!  Her name is "K" and I LOVE her!

So I got this wondrous machine as a Christmas present for my wife.  Little did I know that I would fall so madly in love with it!  She originally asked for one for Christmas because she doesn't usually think to make herself a cup of coffee until the very last minute and by that point there is just no time to wait for a pot of coffee to brew.  Our old coffee maker even had a timer with delayed start and all that stuff on it, but that would require prior planning which apparently was beyond our realm of capability.  The other problem with making a pot or even a half a pot of coffee is that we inevitably leave a little bit of coffee in the pot.  Then we forget about it and don't clean it.  2-3 days later you have moldy coffee and grounds in your coffee pot.  Please don't judge us.

In comes the Keurig machine and all its glory!  You simply open the up the mechanism on top and insert a "K Cup"

                             

Close the mechanism and voila!  30 seconds later  you have a single cup on hot coffee!  Throw away the "K Cup" when you are done and all clean up is finished!  Its the best thing ever!  It's also great for simply making hot water for tea!  I have recently also become obsessed with drinking hot tea.  For Christmas Breanne got me a bunch of fancy teas from "Teavana".  It's a good thing we don't have one of these stores in our mall, because it would be quite dangerous for my pocket book.  I don't really like iced tea, but for some reason hot tea seems to hit the spot.  Since we purchased the machine, I approximately consume 3-4 mugs of coffee or tea a day.  I love it!  It's just so darn efficient!

I've always wondered how I could possibly get caffeine into my system quicker, and Keurig has seemed to answer this question!  Thanks K!  You have changed my life!  I know it sounds ridiculous to make such an exclamation about a coffee pot, but its true.  The way that I consume hot beverages has changed forever and I cannot go back. 

Christmas Letter from the Clairs

Merry Christmas,

Is it seriously time for another Christmas letter?  I feel like I just hit print on last year’s letter and here I am again for this year’s update!  Well, in true Clair Family fashion, we have been extremely busy this year.  A majority of this busyness has come from our work situations.  Breanne is still working in Speech Therapy and loves the company that she is currently with.  She is also still working on building her Pampered Chef business.  The biggest problem is finding a place for all of the new kitchen gadgets that need to mysteriously find homes in our cabinets!  Michael is also still in his same job with State Farm and just hit his five-year anniversary.  Michael has also started in a part-time ministry position at South Side Christian Church.  He is working at the Southwest Campus of our congregation and is in charge of our Small Group and Discipleship ministry.  Finally working in a ministry position has been a goal in the making for many years now, and he could not be happier to finally be serving in this sort of capacity.  It presents a whole new set of challenges, but it is totally worth it!  He loves it so far!

We celebrated Julia’s first birthday with a delightful cupcake party in March.  She is so much fun, we can hardly stand it!  Julia makes us laugh constantly and a joy to be around.    She is talking in phrases, singing, climbing/jumping/running everywhere, and loves snuggles, giving zerbits, reading books, and dancing to music.  Her favorite shows are Shaun the Sheep and Sesame Street.  She also has a newfound love of all things reindeer.

In July, Michael and Breanne had the great opportunity to travel to Venezuela with a mission team from our church.  We went to visit and work with a missionary that our church partners with.  We did things like: teaching a parenting/marriage conference, door-to-door invitations to this conference, painting, teaching men’s and women’s Bible study groups, and any other odd jobs they found for us.  We were blessed with an amazing host family, delicious food, warm hospitality, and met some wonderful new friends.

 For Thanksgiving, we traveled with Breanne’s mom, Bonnye, to New Mexico.  That’s right… we drove… with a twenty month old… all the way to New Mexico.  For those who don’t know, that’s two thousand five hundred seventy-five miles!!!  It was crazy!  Julia however, was a trooper and she did phenomenal!  We had a wonderful time with a lot of family and friends that we haven’t seen in a while.

So I suppose by this point in the letter, you have already noticed the picture enclosed and are just waiting for us to get to that!  Well now that the cat is officially out of the bag, we will be welcoming a new member to our family next year!  We couldn’t be more excited!  We are expecting our little “Chicken Nugget” (this is what it looks like on the sonogram picture) to arrive on July 24^th.  However, if this pregnancy is anything like it was with Julia, we will expect to see him or her around the first week of August.  We will be finding out the gender some time in late March, but like last time, the name will remain a secret until he or she arrives.  We are so excited to meet this new little one!  We know that 2012 is going to be full of all kinds of craziness and we look forward to sharing more of that with you in the coming year.  We wish you and your families many blessings this new year!

Love,

Michael, Breanne, & Julia…. And our little “Nugget”

Reindeer Games

So my daughter has a new obsession.  It all started with a trip to the doctors office a week ago.  In the waiting room there was a "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" book and in the short time she spent in the waiting room, she read the book several times.  It wasn't the classic Rudolph story, but some sort of generic sequel.  That night when she came home, she could not stop talking about this book.  She could tell you the whole story about Rudolph and some rabbits and something about how somebody ran into a tree.  (Obviously, I did not read the book as I don't have a good idea of what happened in it).  Whatever happened in the story, it made an impression on her because the girl is obsessed!  All we have heard about lately is reindeer and Rudolph. 

So as any good parent would do, we decided to feed her obsession.  She had never seen the actual Rudolph movie so we decided to go to the video store and rent it for her.  After several viewings, she was even more hooked!  So much so that the first thing we hear when she wakes up in the morning is "Reindeer... Rudolph".  The problem was that our rental had expired and had already been returned to the video store.  So after the 37th request for Rudolph on Saturday morning, I found myself headed to Wal-Mart to purchase the movie.  The trip was a success and we returned home with Rudolph in hand.

So after approximately 8 viewings of this movie this weekend, I have come up with a few observations.  Now I could not tell you the last time that I had actually seen this movie.  I have no memories of watching it as a child so for the most part, I was watching this movie with fresh eyes.  First of all, I want to know why Santa is such a jerk!  What happened to his Christmas spirit?  He is extremely crotchety and downright rude!  The head elf is super crotchety too!  While I'm at it, Dasher and Comet are pretty nasty as well.  What's with all the crabbiness? 

Now.. on to the elves.  So Hermy wants to be a dentist.  I don't recall him actually going to school for this.  I'm pretty sure he simply declared himself a dentist and it was so.  If only it were this easy.  If this is the case...  I am formally declaring myself an astronaut!!  I will be expecting a call from NASA any day now!

Unfortunately for Hermy, this declaration made him a "misfit" and he and Rudolf both found their way over to the "Island of Misfit Toys".  Now it is plain to see why most of the toys on the island are "misfits".  The train has square wheels and the cowboy is riding an ostrich.  The ailment of the doll is a little less apparent.  Based on a little light Internet research by my sister-in-law, it was discovered that the doll is a misfit because she has "emotional problems".  Not to ruffle any feathers, but she is a female doll so isn't that a little expected?  Just saying.  Thankfully, by the end of the movie, all of the toys were deemed good enough to be given to children and Santa saved the day.

And now the final question that was raised in the countless viewings of this movie.  Why in the world does Rudolph's nose whistle whenever it glows?  I don't get it!  Anyone have an answer to that?

All in all, I think the movie is a little weird.  Those old kid movies seem to lose a little bit of their magic when you watch them as an adult.  For my daughter, the magic is alive and well.  As all I will hear for the next few days is "Reindeer, Reindeer, Rudolph, Reindeer, Rudolph...."  and on and on it will go.  I fear that I will be watching this movie until late July and continuously singing "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer"!