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Logi?

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A Short Story

Once upon a time, there was a young cow named Logi. Logi had just learned that he was the last cow to ever have spots. Every other cow that was born after him were all a single shade of color. Logi was predominantly white with black and brown spots scattered all across his hide. Now you may think, ‘What is the significance of being the last cow with spots?’ Well I’ll tell you! Logi was the last cow of a long line of interstellar warrior cows who settled on Earth and decided to live a peaceful life out in the pastures moo-ing all day long and eating grass and hay. Logi had no idea that he was a descendant of a warrior clan of cows who were able to walk on two legs and also wield swords like nobody’s business. He always felt that he was different from the other cows because only him and his uncle had spots. 

What Logi didn’t know was that his uncle was really a cyborg cow. Half machine half cow that had lived for centuries ever since the clan of warrior cows settled on Earth. Logi’s uncle was named Serlen, but Logi just called him Ser. This particular morning, Ser came up to Logi and knocked him to the ground. Logi had never had any kind of altercation with any other cow in all his years. He was stunned that his uncle would just go and knock him over for no reason. He was even more surprised when he stood up on two legs and brushed himself off.

“Finally! I’ve been so tired of trodding around on all fours.” Ser stood up and was a head taller than Logi. Logi stood there in disbelief, astounded that Ser could speak! All these years he thought the only Ser could say was ‘Moo’. This morning would bring a lot more surprises for the young cow. 

If you like this story and want to hear more about Logi and his ties to an ancestral warrior clan of cows, please leave me a comment. Logi goes on many adventures and actually ends up trying a hamburger and milk shake! He meets many friends along the way but also encounters a plethora of enemies. Will Logi be the last of his lineage? Will he find any other of his kind away from Earth? Will he ever get the taste of cud out of his mouth? These answers and more are but a few stories away. Personally, I think this sucks. How can a cow hold anything with no thumbs? Not only that, but why would somebody write about a cow out of all the animals available on God’s green Earth. At least something a little more exotic. Or even more athletic. Maybe that’s the appeal? Because, yeah, who would ever expect a cow. Or maybe because cow’s are so accessible. Everyone has seen a cow before. People even know what they taste like. Some taste like nothing, just like the steak we had this evening for dinner. it definitely was not Atlanta. Any way, I think this meets my 500 word criteria. And in record time!

(527)

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So it begins...

So just 3 days in and I miss my first post of 500 words. Like a lot of things in life, I wait to the very last minute to do these (even though it’s only been 2 times previously). I figure I’ll write once the kids are asleep and the house is quiet. The kids usually goto bed around 8:30 - 9pm, with the little one staying up a few hours later. I typically don’t want to be on the computer if the wife needs me to help them get to bed or to do some other type of work around the house. This results in me not writing until about 10:30 - midnight for whatever reason. Even last night when we got in at about 9:30, once the kids were in bed and everyone was winding down, it was already 11pm and I was dead tired. I even looked at my phone and saw the time and thought ‘Hey, I should just go and start typing now.’ The next thing I knew, my head was on my pillow and I was removing my glasses to turn in for the night. 

Yesterday was the first day back to work after the holiday season. To say it was a challenge would be an understatement. By the time I left work, I was pretty exhausted, but I wouldn’t say burnt out. Maybe I should start writing these things once I get home. Still have to figure all this out. 

Even now my brain isn’t fully awake and I can’t think of a thing to write about, except for that pathetic excuse up above. Well, continuing on with my resolutions. One of my other resolutions is to pay off 2 of my credit cards. At the present moment I have 5 credit cards. 4 that are active and 1 that is closed. The 4 that are active are almost all maxed out, with the highest balance being 5k. I know, I know. Why do I get myself into these situations. No reason on dwelling on the past. Just have to learn from it and move on. I feel like at least I do have a few things to show from it. And a lot of the charges against the 5k were family type of things. Mostly charges around trips to Disney. The last year we went to Disney a lot to say the least. That 5k will be the most challenging to get out from under, but I think a goal of closing out 2 of the others is attainable. Especially because one of the accounts only has a balance of $150. Small goals right. I remember reading something about the S.M.A.R.T. method for setting goals. What each letter stands for escapes me right now. I know I can just open another tab and see exactly what they are, but I’ll just put up a graphic on the following post. Not only do I want to pay off at least 2 credit cards, I also want to not use them the whole of 2017. I want them to truly be for emergencies or have a small balance to continue to have payments made on. I know timely payments are calculated into your overall credit score. So I would either purchase one thing and pay it down or I would charge an Item and pay it off the same month. Still figuring out that one as well. Either way, debt is a priority along with my credit score and the stress that financial obligations weigh on my soul. I’m getting old and I don’t want to worry about these $$$ hanging over me. Also it will put more money in the bank for me and the family once we don’t have to make those payments any more. So getting rid of 2 of the accounts will benefit me a lot. That’s it for this morning. I’ll see you this evening with another riveting post!

(660)

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Easing In

So far so good. Second entry on it’s way. What I didn’t put in the first entry was the goals that I wanted to achieve in 2017. I know a lot of it is things I’ve said in the past or things I’ll continually say each year. Here is my list of ‘New Year’s Resolutions’. I putting it down here so when I’m come back and read over this in December, I’ll remember how naive I was to think I could actually accomplish these things.

Write 500 words a day

Read a book every 3 weeks

Pay off 2 credit cards

Be committed to my fitness and health

Take/post a picture every day

I believe each of these resolutions will help me to have a better overall life. They will give me peace and ease. Hopefully they will reduce the amount of stress I have as well as put me in a better position for my family, as a father and as a husband. 

I wrote a little about the 500 words thing in my last post, so on to the book reading. In 2016, I can honestly say that I did not read one novel/book all year. The only books I read were children books with probably less words that today and yesterday’s posts combined. I feel like I used to read books fairly frequently and for whatever reason, they have fallen by the way side. This year, I can hopefully finish 1 book every three weeks. The clock is already ticking on this triweek in which I am reading ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife.’ The book is also a movie, so once I complete it, I’ll watch the movie with Kristy. I’m only 13 or so pages into the book and feel like I’m not going to be able to fit it into the 3 week period. Alas, I must. Remember the whole Accountability thing we discussed?

I know in 2016 I read a lot. Just not in the form of a novel. Mostly it was reading news articles, headlines, things for work and comments on Reddit. Actually a whole bunch of comments on Reddit. I found myself going to the Orlando subreddit each day. Followed by /Nba and /OrlandoMagic. As well as /Pokemongo and /Pokemongo_orlando. I also frequented /askreddit and /jokes. Each of these subs helped passed the time as well as inform me about things that were going on in the world. Reading reddit and going through the comments opened my eyes on many an occassion. Especially with the /writingprompts sub. A lot of those posts had to do with time travel or apocalyptic type of scenarios. But it gave me an opportunity to see a bunch of different view points. Maybe a few of these posts for 2017 will be WritingPrompt posts. Sure won’t hurt to try.

I’ll dive into the other resolutions in the next few days. I’m sure the narrative for those will be pretty mundane as they speak for themselves. Maybe I’ll surprise myself with what I actually write down. Who knows? It’s all a part of the journey.

(516)

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Hip hip hooray! (at Lori Wilson Park)

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One day down. Well almost. Saw these guys for $7.99/lb at the oriental store. I think ribeye is the same price at Publix. Just saying. (at MIA Supermarket 美亚)

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2017

New year, new me. At least that’s what the snapchat filter says. I’ve come across a few posts on Instagram saying the same thing. The posts however say that this who ‘New year, New me’ thing will only last about a week. Actually only 4 days. Then after that, we’ll be back to doing the same old stuff. Not really making moves for a better life. A healthier life. A life of fun and adventure. You know, all the things people hope for. A new body, more money in the bank, more accomplishments. More of everything. Every year we hope for the best. Then at the end of that year, we hope the next year will be even better. We make commitments, like writing 500 words a day, that we end up giving up on. Maybe life gets in the way. Maybe the commintments are just not that important. Maybe other priorities come up. Like sleep or looking at your phone. It’s easy to turn away from these commitments/resolutions. The only thing I can think of doing is writing down these goals and making myself, damn what’s the phrase. Making yourself accountable! Yeah that’s it! Accountable. We have so much technology around us that can do amazing things. Things that we don’t think of doing ourselves. Trackers that are on you 24 hours a day. I’ll try my best this year to try and keep up with these goals/resolutions/commintments. A lot of them revolve around the same things I say every year. Be healthier. Be smarter. Be better. One of the easiest should be writing 500 words a day. I’m not even sure what 500 words a day looks like. Let me see how much I’ve typed so far. Apparently that is 289 words. 500 isn’t so daunting. There’s so much that  goes th rough my mind daily that spitting out 500 words a day in the form of text should be a breeze. Between everything that goes on in my family like, to the ins and outs of my work, writing should be cathartic and words show flow from my finger tips like ice from FroZone. What I will try to do is find some structure to my writing. Some kind of format. Or maybe it’ll just be mindless rambling and all run on sentences. Only the year knows what’s coming. What I should try to do is increase my vocabulary, either English or Tagalog and demostrate how adept I am at the skill of writing. Yeah, that’s it. Who knows where this year or this whole writing thing will lead to. At the end of each post I’ll put a word count. See, getting this structure thing together already. Here we go 2017, New Year, New Me!

Well that was a fail! I did my word count and it showed 459! I really don’t know what 500 words looks like. This may be more of a struggle than I realize. I’m going to end up bullshitting the end of these posts just to make my minimum. Every event has to have a beginning, so this is it. One more try, New Year, New Me!

526

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ROBOTS OR DINOSAURS?

I have a robot dinosaur art piece from Red Rocket Farm.  Oh and there's Grimlock.

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I just watched a sneak preview of this movie with my awesome sauce wife.  If you're thinking this is some kind of chick flick, you are a million percent correct.  I think I was one of 5 guys in the theater (3 husbands, 2 gays).  Besides the estrogen levels in the room, it was a (insert British accent) rather smashing movie.  I didn't know anything about the movie before I watched it.  No trailer, no poster, no idea what-so-ever.  I didn't even look at the screening ticket.  I had no clue that there was a Weasley and a Mean Girl in the flick.  It was a total surprise and well worth the admission (free).  If you have a sensitive bone in your body, you should enjoy it.  If you don't, maybe it's..... wait for it..... About Time.  See what I did there?  #boom #abouttime #husbandnotgay #remembership

"If you could relive any moment could you make life perfect?" - About Time

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I can’t and now you can’t so there

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35 years later

Oh time, where have you gone? You truly have just flown by. Have you claimed the best of my years? Or have you just prepared me for what is to come. Either way, I'm thankful for every second. And as the saying goes, "Only time will tell..."

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Just had dinner with the family. We dined at Anh Hong, a Vietnamese restaurant in the Mills 50 area of Orlando. I love seeing my skinny son eat! He tore through some spring rolls and Pho. Yes, the boy already likes Pho. Can’t wait for my little beauty to start eating more solids. She looks like she’ll eat anything. I’m not saying she’s a fatty, just she’s not picky like her Kuya. And her mom. JK!

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Precry or Postcry?

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A new experience

So obviously changing a diaper includes dealing with either pee or poop or a combination of the two.  What isn't obvious is the intricacies of changing a boy's diapers (which I am a pro at) and changing a girl's diapers (work-in-progress).  When my daughter first came home I changed her diaper.  Once.  My wife saw how much trouble I was having and decided to take it upon herself to change Kairi's diapers until I was more comfortable with the task.  Well this morning I chose to confront my eventual duty again.  Here's how it went.

If you don't know, a newborn needs to be wiped down with medical cloths soaked in plain water.  You aren't supposed to use regular diaper wipes as their skin is so delicate.  So I had my bowl of water with 3 soaking medical cloths.  I knew there was poop and felt this was enough to complete the deed (forshadowing).  So I removed the dirty diaper and proceed to clean the area with the cloths.  No big deal, until Kairi started squirming.  I'm still a little weary about cleaning my daughter's anatomy (something I'll have to get over).  Next thing I know, I'm out of cloths but she's still dirty.  I reach under her bassinet to grab a few more to soak.  As I reach down I suddenly see that she starts peeing!  O.M.G.  I can deal with my son peeing cuz all you have to do is dodge the stream.  With my daughter, it's like she just sprung a leak.  I start freaking out and her mom says "Just cover her with the diaper!"  I say "But it's dirty!"  Instead of relinquishing the control to the Diaper Changing Champion, I honey badger through it.  I goto grab a clean diaper from under the bassinet (which I should have done earlier) and low and behold... no diapers.  I run to the baby room to grab another pack of diapers and run back to Kairi.  All the while, Kairi is lying on a dirty diaper with her pee soaking in her blanket.  I finally finish wiping her down, putting on the new diaper and changing her clothes.  

I can only imagine what other experiences I will go through with my daughter.

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What she's been missing...

Yesterday, we got a plate of sashimi and sushi from one of our local sushi joints.  With every bite she had a pang of guilt run through her.  As though she was doing something she wasn't supposed to.  Today, I decided to continue the forbidden foods theme with fresh shucked oysters and goat cheese with garlic and herbs.  The guilt was still there but there was a smile that went along with it.  

This is just a small gift I can give her for giving up some of her favs for the past 37 weeks and 5 days (she reminds me all the time.)  As the days go on, we'll probably eat a few more things but this little binge has been fun.  If mommy's happy, I'm happy.

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Mother's Day

Last mother's day I had just come out of the hospital after an appendectomy. This mother's day is also following a hospital visit. Can you say new tradition? Hopefully not. Now I'm doubley thankful for the mother of my children. I wrote a special poem to commemorate the occasion. My wife is now twice a mum A wonderful one she's become She pushed out my babies A third? Hmm maybe But a mom like her is awesome! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!