Read more about the article A strange thing has been happening
My thoughts

A strange thing has been happening

A strange thing has been happening for the last few days. I've been going to bed a bit earlier, with the help of melatonin and getting up at the crack of dawn, without setting an alarm. I know I expressed reservations about taking something to help me sleep but I don't really have another choice at this point. I need to sleep. It's roughly 6:30am and I've already been up for almost an hour. Not only that, but I feel pretty good. I'm working on getting the kids in bed before 10pm because it's obviously best for them but also, it's the only way I get any sleep myself. I really, really want to go to bed earlier and get up earlier. It's healthier and if I'm up before everyone…

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May 18, 2020
Read more about the article A couple of quick updates
General Update / My thoughts

A couple of quick updates

I want to take care of a few housekeeping type things and I'll keep this brief because I might actually be able to go to bed early. In order to improve the user experience with this blog, I've decided to remove native ads. They don't generate much more than $100/month and they really bog things down. I generate revenue via other avenues and I feel like this is best for my users. I'm finally in a position where I can do this without really hurting myself. If you listened to the most recent episode I released, you already know this. I've decided to take a break for a few weeks. I've put out 21 full episodes in the last 21 weeks or so. It's a lot of work and it's…

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May 16, 2020
Read more about the article I’ve managed to keep my kids safe and healthy for 70 days
COVID19 / Lockdown / My thoughts

I’ve managed to keep my kids safe and healthy for 70 days

Today marks day 70 of COVID19 lockdown for my family. It's been a long journey and I'm afraid we aren't even almost there yet. I'm preparing to remain locked down as long as it takes to keep my family safe. Yes, it's a massive sacrifice but the alternative is unacceptable to me. We have made some progress in one area and I wanted to share that. All visits had stopped due to lockdown. Gavin's immunocompromised and Lizze has high risk people in her house. I approached Lizze about finding a way to make at least one visit work. After some discussion, we decided that if everyone in her house locked down for 14 days, and at the end of that time, everyone was fever free and healthy, we could allow…

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May 15, 2020
Read more about the article We had an adventure today
COVID19 / Day Trips / Family Fun / Lockdown / My thoughts

We had an adventure today

I'm really tired but I wanted to share our adventure from today because it was a very big step for Gavin. I took the kids out to Quail Hollow because we all needed to get some exercise and I was hoping that do to the size of the park, it wouldn't be very crowded. Unfortunately, I was mistaken. Quail Hollow was packed and most people were not social distancing or wearing masks. We almost didn't stay but it was a decent drive and while Gavin wanted nothing to do with it, especially after seeing the lack of COVID19 awareness. I decided that we were already there and while the main trails had lots of people, we could keep to the outskirts of the park. That's what we did. We found…

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May 14, 2020
Read more about the article Are you looking for fun things to distract your kids with?
My thoughts / Reviews / Sponsored Post

Are you looking for fun things to distract your kids with?

I mentioned recently that I wanted the kids to get involved in things that weren't battery powered or attached to a screen. Well, wish granted. Zen Laboratory reached out and wanted to sponsor a review of their Jumbo Slime Kit. They retail for about $30 and they sent one for each of the kids. While I don't personally like playing with slime anymore, it turns out my kids do. I did a quick unboxing to show you guys what comes in the box before the kids tore into it. Check that out below. https://youtu.be/MWdYz9VuAWI Honestly, there isn't much you can say about slime other than I used to love playing with it as a kid. Gavin isn't into it but Elliott and Emmett love it. They've been playing with it…

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May 13, 2020
Read more about the article I’m struggling today
COVID19 / Lockdown / My thoughts

I’m struggling today

I'm struggling a bit today because I just am. I could say it's because we've been on lockdown for 67 days straight or that I'm depressed. I could say that it's because Gavin's off his meds and the kids have been home from school. I could say that it's because I'm struggling with my pending divorce or that I miss the person I married. I could say all of those things because they're all true but the reality, however, is that I don't know why I'm struggling today. Perhaps it's a combination of everything? Perhaps it's that I'm tired and just need this to be over? All I know is that today has already proven to be very challenging and I can't seem to get my footing. It feels like…

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May 12, 2020
Read more about the article I’d rather not spend the money but I’m too tired to care
COVID19 / Lockdown / My thoughts

I’d rather not spend the money but I’m too tired to care

I had a really hard time falling asleep last night. I ended up finally crashing around 5:30 AM and for those wondering, that puts me at a significant disadvantage going into the day. I was able to get about 4 hours of sleep because the boys slept in. Super grateful for that. The goal for today is pretty simple, I want to get Gavin started using Mightier and I need to unbox something that was sent out for me to look at and share. The super annoying hangup right now is that someone a few doors down has this dog that incessantly barks and they just ignore it.. It's really hard to record anything because nothing is even remotely soundproof in my house. I've considered filing a noise complaint because…

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May 11, 2020
Read more about the article A mixed bag
Gavin / My thoughts

A mixed bag

Thus far, today has been a mixed bag. The boys wanted to do yard work but Gavin decided he'd rather clean the bathroom, which is fine. I don't leave the boys outside alone for several reasons, all related to safety. Everyone did great and now I need to get some work done on my end. I have two ads for the podcast to record. I say a mixed bag because Gavin has this habit of breaking things that don't belong to him. He doesn't do it on purpose. He just lacks awareness of certain things and that leads to more frequent accidents. Today he broke my electric razor. He says he doesn't know how it happened and that it just rolled off the counter and hit the floor. The razor…

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May 11, 2020