Changing the Universe

I’ve been blogging for EIGHT YEARS!

May 7th, 2012 - Posted By: Nicci / 0 Comments

I just realized today, as I was writing my speaker bio for Blog Her ’12 (insert HOLYCRAPI’MSPEAKINGATBLOGHER freak-out here), that I’ve been blogging in some form or another since 2004. Eight years! I started over at LiveJournal (no really, it still exists!) and eventually moved my way to Blogger, and now WordPress.

I was feeling a bit nostalgic and thought I’d post some of my thoughts from way back when, before marriage and Aric and adult responsibilities kicked in.

This post is from July 1, 2004. I was working as a waitress back home in the summer for some cash (I didn’t start working during school until that fall). Please to be enoying:

Another one bites the dust

Just got back from a looooong night at work. As a general rule, Wednesday nights are supposed to be busy. But of course, not on the night Nicci works! Damn irony. I still made some good money. I had two tables tip me way more than 20%, which was awesome. That totally made up for the one guy that tipped me a quarter…bastard. Whatever, I’m pretty much over it.
Tim was supposed to find out about the job in Eau Claire today, but of course, they didn’t call. This is most likely because they have not yet made up their minds, but I’m getting anxious! My anxiety doen’t even compare to Tim’s I’m sure. Nonetheless, I wish they’d hurry up. I’m about ready to call in a mob hit on them if they don’t give him this job soon! Not that I can actually call up a mob hit……..or something less incriminating….

I’m finding this journal very addicting. I’m not sure why, but it feels good to just write stuff down. I mailed Tim’s bobble head doll today. I sold it on eBay for him so he could have some extra cash. We started the bidding at $20, and I ended up selling it for $53!! Then, while looking at other bobble heads on the market, I saw one of Kirby Puckett, my favorite Twin EVER! So I bid on it and ended up winning it for $8.52! So I got that in the mail today and that made me feel cool.
Before I wrap this entry up, I just wanted to say that I have two of the best friends ever. Kristin is absolutley amazing and is always there with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s and a futon for me to freak out on. Even though we are far away from each other this summer, a phone call or quick email is never too much to do to talk to her! And of course, Timmy is awesome, but I already wrote about him!

OK, I’m going sleepy now. I have to get ready for my day with Timmy tomorrow. We’re gonna do something outside, so I’ll need to get my rest!

Yes. Selling a Bobble-head doll is TOTALLY blog-worthy material! Oy!

I think I might post more of these gems as the week goes on. It might be fun!!

blogging, BlogHer '12

At the playground

May 4th, 2012 - Posted By: Tim / 2 Comments

We took Aric on a bike ride to the playground the other day. He ran around and played, nothing unusual. When we had been there awhile, another little boy came with his mom to play. At first, Aric and the other boy were shy with each other – curious, but not sure what to do.

Then Aric got bored of being shy and went to play with the steering wheel on the playground. The other boy (I never did catch his name) slowly walked up the steps toward Aric, but stopped on the top step, still being shy.

That’s when Aric grew up before our eyes. He walked over, grabbed the little boy by the hand, and walked him over to the steering wheel to show him how it worked. When the other boy was appropriately playing with the wheel, Aric went on his way, across the bridge, through the tunnel, and down the slide.

Not long after, another boy stopped over, this one a little older. (“My name’s Jackson! I’m wearing shorts!”) Aric was a little bit intimidated by Jackson because of the age difference and because of how quickly Jackson was running around the playground. But then something clicked in Aric, and he started chasing him around, trying to be faster around the playground. It’s like this little competitive streak came out in him, and he needed to show that he could play just as well as Jackson could.

It was a big step for me. It was the first time I had actually seen Aric play “with” another kid (who wasn’t his cousin, anyway) as opposed to simply playing “next to” that kid. It was nice to see that kind of interaction. He’s growing, becoming his own kid. It’s possible that he’s like this in daycare, but it was a fun daddy moment to see it in person.

Back to that other little boy. He was climbing up the last of the steps to go down the slide when Aric went flying past him to go down first. Not quite grasping “taking turns” yet, but we’ll get there. Anyway, when Aric got down the slide, he turned around and put his arms out as if he was gonna catch the little boy as he came down. I know he was just mimicking what his dad and mom do when he goes down slides, but it was heartwarming to see him looking out for the other kid. He was making sure he was safe.

That, combined with helping the little boy with the steering wheel, made me feel good. He’s showing compassion for others, a willingness to help out. Some day, hopefully, Aric’s going to be a big brother, and it made me happy to see him already showing some of those caretaker traits at this young age. It made me think that whenever that day comes he’s gonna be a pretty cool big brother. And I’ll be a very proud daddy.