Moving on up like George and Weezie!

In my quest to become a Joomla! master, I transformed Daddyshack from a blog to a website with new features and content. It’s still a work in progress but it’s almost complete. I’ll be adding all of the blog/site links here on the right column and set many of them up as feeds. There will be a news feed, video gallery, photo gallery, and a page listing all of the Interviews from the Daddyshack, a fun interview format for dads to express some of their thoughts on fatherhood that I do for my column at Quirkee.com

The new URL is a page on my jamesgrayson.com photography site but you can reach it by using daddyshack.net and daddyshack.us. The daddyshack.com URL is being squatted on until 2014 unless I can make him an offer he can’t refuse. Don’t wait here while I don’t hold my breath!

I’ll continue to keep this Blogger page here for redirection indefinitely in case you forget to change your links. Just remember, you won’t have as much fun here as you will in the newly remodeled Daddyshack with it’s bamboo wood floors, slate tiled bathrooms, granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, hot tub, wet bar…

Thank you all for reading here and I hope to see you over there!

James

So in an effort to keep what readers I do have amused, I thought I’d share this photo with you. Those of you with children that can walk have surely seen something like this before, right? Those of you with babies, you have been warned.

Keep all sharp things out of your little toddlers reach. This includes Sharpies.

And remember, if it’s too quiet in the other room then they are up to no good.

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Did you know Wonder Pets like celery tacos? They do.

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Time for me to throw some love around. There is a new social networking site that is still in beta but will be going public soon. You may have seen the cre8Buzz ant on my blog with my ranking on it. I’m in 2nd place behind a well deserved front runner, Joeprah. That guy is hilarious. But it’s not really a contest over at cre8Buzz, it’s just a cool place for you to create a page, promote your blogs and sites, and discover other ones that you may have been missing in the vortex of the Web. The guys over at cre8Buzz started the site to bring writers, bloggers, cartoonists, hobbyists, photographers, and others together in a community. I still have invites to join if you don’t want to wait until they open the doors to the general public. Leave a comment if interested in jumping in the Buzz.

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Canon is giving away a sweet gear package for their Photography in the Parks Photo Contest. A fellow forum member on a site I frequent these days is one of the finalists with this awesome photo of a salamander -

Stop on over to check out the other finalists and vote! The other photos are great, too, but that salamander rocks! Click that photo or the link above it to get there. You can also see more of Scott’s awesome work by clicking on his name above.

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I’m going deer hunting for the first time today and tomorrow. My neighbor and I are heading out to the Hill Country to their family ranch. I should be able to get some clean shots in around sunset and sunrise – with my Nikon. I’m not much of gun hunter so I’ll leave the killing to him and target shoot with my 18-200mm lens while enjoying some cold brews. I haven’t had a night without the kids in a long time. Should be nice and quiet (between gunshots) out there!

Q: Taking on the commitment of an at-home dad is a big decision. What factors contributed to your family’s decision?

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I witnessed one of my vehicles hit the 100,000 mile mark.

“Big deal,” you say? Actually, yes it is. If you knew my past history with cars you would understand the significance of this extremely rare and very eagerly celebrated occasion. The anticipation of the 100,000 mile arrival began last week when we took the 2001 Honda Odyssey to the dealership to have the transmission inspected before the warranty expired (faulty year model they extended coverage on to 100k) and to have the 90,000 mile (really the 99,856 mile) service done. After the minivan checked out with a good transmission and some much deserved pampering, my mind started contemplating the beginning of the end of her first 100,000 miles.

Our family did not run up the entire 100k, though. We purchased the van used on eBay back in the Fall of 2004 with about 52,000 miles on it. It sure has seen some good naps, comfortable road trips, and a lot of fun washings with us here in Austin, TX.

This morning on the way to drop off my son at school I noticed the odometer was quickly approaching the historical number. My heart started beating faster and I found myself worrying about not noticing the change from 99,999.9 to 100,000. What if I was moving in traffic or going through a school zone and forgot to look? What if some moronic Austin driver crashed into us and totaled the front end of the van at 99,995 miles and it never ran again? What if…

Thankfully none of that happened. I wrote myself a sticky note that said “Don’t forget camera – van at 100k today” and left it by my keys. The big moment was due to arrive on the way home from picking up my son from school or on the way to the gym. I was ready with fresh batteries in my camera. I checked the odometer about every 1/4 mile to make sure it was still working and didn’t decide to break or speed up for no good reason. I began to feel nervous. Should I have stopped at Party Pig and bought noisemakers and confetti?

About halfway home I realized that this moment of the van hitting 100,000 miles might be even more special that I originally thought. I decided to stop for the mail while she idled gently with her fresh oil and fluids, rotated new tires, and new back brakes. As I pulled into our cove my son was puzzled as to why I was driving laps around it for 2/10 of a mile.

“Because I want her to hit 100,000 miles in the place she has been sleeping at night for the last three years,” I said. She also gets pooped on most nights by the mourning doves in the trees above her but I don’t tell her that. She thinks it’s special that she gets a rinse-off almost every day.

What can I say? Most cars that I’ve owned were purchased with over 100,000 miles on them and some of the ones that had less I didn’t own long enough to witness the event.

And some days it’s kind of boring around here so I have to write about something.

So it’s not really free, I guess, but it didn’t cost extra!

Now I’m just as curious as the next guy as to what my “body age” really is compared to how many years I’ve actually been alive and kicking around the planet. I made my appointment for the second day at the club so I could find out how “old” I am before I start exercising on a regular schedule. The session was to last about an hour, which I figured out to be just about the length of time I could take the humiliation I was to receive in front of the entire workout floor.

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But Life Time Fitness is much more than a gym. It’s a water park, basketball and rock climbing gym, with racquetball, squash, Yoga, Pilates, spin classes, lap pools, hot tubs, saunas, a cafe and hair/nail salon, a huge children’s area with 2-hours a day of childcare included, swimming lessons, soccer days, kid’s basketball court, and ample parking!

Granted, I’ll probably never take Pilates or get my hair and nails done (what hair?), but I will definitely utilize many of the other amenities. And surprisingly the price of it all for the whole family is less than our cable, phone, and high speed Internet bill every month.

Starting tomorrow my goal is to get rid of my pregnancy weight (the food baby) and increase my running endurance while adding some muscle to my spindly frame. With that will come added performance on the tennis court so I can beat my tennis bum buddy. The only problem I can foresee about that plan is that he is also a member of Life Time Fitness, which means I’ll probably have to spike his Gatorade with sleeping pills before we start to play if I ever want to have a fighting chance.

Another plus to the quitting will be the improvement in my stamina for tennis and running. I almost beat my arch nemesis last weekend even after a night of smoking. I was up 5-2 in the first set, which is a rarity, and up 3-1 in the second. I did lose both sets but put up a fight. I should have closed those sets out but the shots just didn’t happen for me. Not having played in 8 months due to knee trouble I think I played better than I have all year. Maybe it was the extra added chemicals in my blood from the Camels. Yea, probably not.

Fall is finally arriving and everybody has their Halloween decorations out. Skeletons hanging from trees, bats in windows, and the real carved pumpkins awaiting their demise at the hands of young pranksters. My son has changed from being Batman for Halloween to Mack the red Power Ranger. He wears his costume around the house every chance he gets. We’re hoping it makes it to October 31. My daughter is going to be a pumpkin with a costume on loan from a friend. She took one look at the bumblebee costume when at the store with my wife and said, “No!” which as you all know is one of her favorite words. Thankfully she liked the carved pumpkin with it’s cute little hat. She should rake in tons of candy this year and that will be another habit to deal with – CHOCOLATE!

Speaking of chocolate, at the store yesterday I impulse bought a box of my favorite cereal (Count Chocula) and my kids didn’t even notice when I put it in the basket or hid it in the pantry. I had a bowl of it this morning but had to wait for the milk to make it a little soggy so the delicious chocolaty crunchiness wouldn’t hurt my teeth.