tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-156536832008-09-29T14:11:27.421-04:00These are the ramblings of a thirty-ten year-old suburban husband and work-at-home dad who probably has nothing new to add to the the world of blogs...but is here anyway.Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.comBlogger408125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15653683.post-70862952313883784382008-09-12T00:36:00.002-04:002008-09-12T00:40:37.182-04:002008-09-12T00:40:37.182-04:00

The new blog is ready and I've moved. Go check out the new Clare's Dad. You're all invited to the blogwarming. Don't worry...it's casual.

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15653683.post-69825264055169198502008-09-05T22:25:00.006-04:002008-09-06T22:04:07.336-04:002008-09-06T22:04:07.336-04:00

A Very Special Blossom Clare's sunflowers finally bloomed this week. These grew from seeds that she planted in a plastic cup in school back on Earth Day in April. Pretty cool, aren't they? A New Gig For the past year or so, I've been marketing myself as a management and production consultant to theaters in Connecticut. I've gotten some work and have been able to do most of it from home.

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15653683.post-40933753283131929582008-08-29T06:30:00.000-04:002008-08-29T06:30:00.757-04:002008-08-29T06:30:00.757-04:00

Miss Information I'm happy to report to you parents of younger kids that some children do share more information about school as they grow older. Last year in first grade, Clare had nothing to say about her first day of school. Her response to almost every question was "I don't know" or "I forget." This year, Clare doubled�??nearly tripled�??the amount of information she shared. "Do you like

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15653683.post-91949572555342061532008-08-27T11:12:00.004-04:002008-08-27T11:32:00.192-04:002008-08-27T11:32:00.192-04:00

Gone. As in Clare is off to the second grade and summer vacation is over. We were both awake on time. I was prepared for the early, but I wasn't prepared for the cold�??it wasn't even fifty degrees yet when we walked to the bus stop this morning. I never thought I'd be a parent who was glad to see the first day of school come, but I kind of am. Don't get me wrong�??I've had one of the best

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15653683.post-5972952336029669182008-08-26T21:11:00.005-04:002008-08-26T21:30:34.629-04:002008-08-26T21:30:34.629-04:00

Today was the last day of summer vacation. Clare starts second grade tomorrow on the sixty-ninth day of this summer photo project. I suppose it should have been sixty-eight days�??or sixty-seven days since I started early on the last day of school in June�??but my plan was to go from bus stop to bus stop. That should give you an idea of the photo I hope to get for tomorrow�??if we're both awake and

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15653683.post-67933554676810739752008-08-25T19:52:00.004-04:002008-08-25T20:08:43.342-04:002008-08-25T20:08:43.342-04:00

On a miniature golf course that is. Today Clare and I hit our third mini golf course of the summer. We also took Clare's best friend�??who had never played miniature golf before�??with us. Clare hit two holes in one. Clare's friend learned quickly and shot a two on a couple of holes. I played my best putt putt of the season and got four holes in one�??totally showing up the teenage self-proclaimed

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15653683.post-69109049495855459972008-08-24T21:44:00.004-04:002008-08-24T21:54:35.625-04:002008-08-24T21:54:35.625-04:00

We were at my cousins today and Clare rolled down the hill in their backyard. Sometimes it's nice to have a hill. Not for mowing though, just for rolling and lying in the grass for a while. Sometimes.

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15653683.post-44417910510878412002008-08-23T21:42:00.005-04:002008-08-23T21:59:38.638-04:002008-08-23T21:59:38.638-04:00

Our opportunities to get to the beach this summer are getting shorter than the days themselves. Today, we packed up early and took off for the shore. It was a long beach day�??the kind of long where the sand and the smell of sunblock are stuck on our skin hours later, and where sun and salt water have turned the hair on my arms whiter than the head of a peroxide blonde. The water was dirty with

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15653683.post-11694064693681702222008-08-22T22:24:00.002-04:002008-08-22T22:29:05.080-04:002008-08-22T22:29:05.080-04:00

Clare has been wishing on stars lately. Probably for a longer summer. Do you and your kids wish on stars?

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15653683.post-70959691223342860692008-08-22T21:26:00.004-04:002008-08-22T22:24:34.882-04:002008-08-22T22:24:34.882-04:00

I had suspended Friday Talent Round-Up for summer vacation, but I've got a few things to share. Since I make the rules here, here's the Talent Round-Up one week early. Some of you are back in school already anyway, right? Poisoned Like a lot of kids, Clare sometimes leaves toys and other things outside after she's done playing. This summer, one of the things she's left around a few times is a

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15653683.post-6114251864958312812008-08-22T09:24:00.004-04:002008-08-22T22:29:41.115-04:002008-08-22T22:29:41.115-04:00

What are you still doing here? It's my third blogiversary and I've gone out to celebrate. So, check out the recent posts you've missed, and then meet me over at A Family Runs Through It. Thanks for the invite, Phil.

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15653683.post-64336159416009799912008-08-21T17:40:00.006-04:002008-08-21T18:22:30.156-04:002008-08-21T18:22:30.156-04:00

I've spent over twenty years of my life in Connecticut, but there are still so many places I haven't seen even in this small state. Today, Clare and I checked off a couple more of them. The Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford threatened to close earlier this summer because of lack of funding. I had never been there, and I figured we should do our part to keep open the home of arguably

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15653683.post-54000595163247397102008-08-20T19:56:00.005-04:002008-08-21T17:40:21.626-04:002008-08-21T17:40:21.626-04:00

Clare liked the way her hair bounced when she was swinging today. She just got her back-to-school haircut�??at the same place that Clare's Mom gets her hair cut. She's now had the haircut, stocked up on school supplies, and bought her uniforms. All that's left to do is enjoy the last days of summer vacation.

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15653683.post-70602975849184166042008-08-19T22:59:00.007-04:002008-08-20T00:23:55.820-04:002008-08-20T00:23:55.820-04:00

Back where I come from, we have universities, seats of great learning where men go to become great thinkers. And when they come out, they think deep thoughts�??and with no more brains than you have. But they have one thing you haven't got! A diploma! Back where I come from we have men who are called heroes. Once a year, they take their fortitude out of mothballs and parade it down the main street

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15653683.post-36955865194579387472008-08-19T22:54:00.003-04:002008-08-19T22:57:36.066-04:002008-08-19T22:57:36.066-04:00

This was the view in my backyard tonight. At 8 p.m. I hate when the sun starts setting before 8 p.m. Only one more week of summer vacation. I guess it can't last forever, can it?

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15653683.post-75313359931768489082008-08-18T22:44:00.004-04:002008-08-18T22:49:39.258-04:002008-08-18T22:49:39.258-04:00

Clare ate lunch at McDonald's today with her Mom who was home from work. Because she knows I like Star Wars, Clare brought me her Happy Meal box and her Padmé Amidala toy. Is she thoughtful or what?

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15653683.post-76538562760060171842008-08-17T22:51:00.004-04:002008-08-17T23:04:29.809-04:002008-08-17T23:04:29.809-04:00

Even when it's not about her, it's about her. Is it this way with everyone's kids? Thanks for the anniversary wishes, everyone. We had a great weekend.

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15653683.post-77243160587005658552008-08-16T20:52:00.005-04:002008-08-16T21:08:08.661-04:002008-08-16T21:08:08.661-04:00

Ten years ago today, Clare's Mom and I were on Waikiki Beach and by this time of the evening may have been at the hotel beachside bar working our way through the drink list. Today, we were on Misquamicut Beach in Rhode Island where I worked my way through the parking lot pulling a Mickey Mouse cooler full of juice pouches. But we had a beautiful six year-old girl with us which means much more.

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15653683.post-62067998891368464732008-08-15T16:16:00.000-04:002008-08-15T16:16:00.896-04:002008-08-15T16:16:00.896-04:00

These are from my aunt and cousins. Hallmark must not have a large selection of tenth anniversary cards.

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15653683.post-45078512613493944722008-08-15T07:00:00.005-04:002008-08-15T07:47:35.598-04:002008-08-15T07:47:35.598-04:00

I once read a quote that goes something like this: Women get married hoping that their husbands will change, but they don't. Men get married hoping that their wives won't change, but they do. Whoever said or wrote that must have known about Clare's Mom and me. Years ago, when I lived in Manhattan and Clare's Mom still lived in Connecticut, she'd visit on weekends with a suitcase full of

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15653683.post-50624703246731625572008-08-14T21:05:00.004-04:002008-08-14T21:21:15.044-04:002008-08-14T21:21:15.044-04:00

This is the view I see when I lay on the lawn in my backyard and look up. Why would I lay on the lawn in my backyard and look up? Because I could. Today I finally had the combination of time available and lack of rain that it took to get the lawn mowed. (I haven't exaggerated about the rain, by the way. I read today that inland Connecticut has exceeded the average annual rainfall this year

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15653683.post-89191481276017180692008-08-13T21:49:00.006-04:002008-08-13T22:03:31.072-04:002008-08-13T22:03:31.072-04:00

Yes, today's photo is of a ten-foot tall metallic balloon animal on the roof of a building in New York. The building is the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the exhibit is by American sculptor Jeff Koons. Not everyone is a fan. As I heard one woman say, "I wouldn't put anything too valuable up here either." Clare has been wanting to visit the museum since she found Tutenstein on Discovery Kids.

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15653683.post-80865529280488655582008-08-12T16:06:00.005-04:002008-08-13T21:49:05.394-04:002008-08-13T21:49:05.394-04:00

Due to popular demand�??well one of you at least�??here's Clare with her blue hair highlights. In this shot, she was caught screaming at the paparazzi. I don't know if I should be more concerned that she wanted to turn her hair a strange color, or that the color she picked was blue. Until now, all things blue have been summarily dismissed as being for boys. Could this signal some change of heart?

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15653683.post-63105474709039343382008-08-11T18:47:00.005-04:002008-08-13T21:48:36.661-04:002008-08-13T21:48:36.661-04:00

Go away already. The rain that is�??not you. Clare left this wagon outside and it's collected almost an inch of rain today. It's been so wet and humid here lately that I feel like we'll never be dry again. At least this cool wet summer is unusual for New England�??I'd never make it anywhere where it was this wet all the time. We made the best of the day though. Thanks to the Italian relatives

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15653683.post-36239530784332984292008-08-10T20:21:00.004-04:002008-08-13T21:48:06.814-04:002008-08-13T21:48:06.814-04:00

I didn't have a picture for today. So Clare is standing in as photographer with her new Disney Hannah Montana camera. I think maybe she needs another lesson on using it.

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03104723037009416379noreply@blogger.com