Cornucopia

Had an awesome holiday season with my family, mainly resting and having fun with a little bit of work in between. Here are some blurbs from the past few days:

Dr. Evil wants my la-zer

I had LASIK surgery done on December 28 and am loving it! The procedure itself was quite surreal, but the results have been great so far. I have a checkup tomorrow morning but my vision is at least 20/20 already, maybe even better, and it will only improve over the next few months. You can't imagine how big a lifestyle change this is, especially for a guy who wants to wrestle with his kids on a daily basis. Now there's no more worry about bending or breaking Daddy's glasses. Watch out kids... it's on!

And it's official: I'm as stubborn as my dad. My pre-surgery appointment on Dec. 27 included a dilation of my eyes. No problem. But they forgot to give me any shades on my way out, and it was a super-bright day outside with not a cloud in the sky. "Meh," I said, "I'll just head to the pharmacy to get my eyedrops, and pick up some cheap sunglasses while I'm there." Five minutes later I'm driving my car with both visors down, one hand over my eyebrows and tears streaming down my face from the sunlight. I then get to the pharmacy and they're out of the eyedrops I need. "I'm so sorry!", the pharmacist says, "It's a really common drop and we've never run out before!". Thanks, I'm feeling better already. They sure as heck aren't gettin' my sunglasses purchase. On to the next pharmacy, more than five miles away. More visors, more tears and pain, more blindness... but I made it. They had the drops, I bought the sunglasses and all was well. I won.

Long story, but it can be summed up in three words: I'm an idiot.

Blogging paralysis

Have you ever had such a daunting task ahead of you that you didn't know when or how to start? That's kinda how I am with the blog right now -- tons of ideas floating around in my head. Here's a sneak peak at some of the stuff I'm mulling over. Sooner or later I'll write about the following:

• Book reviews -- The Maker's Diet and American Theocracy
• Life lessons from the show Battlestar Galactica
• What I learned from Moses
• Suicide, guns, gangs, violence and teens... a ticket to hell? Or just hell on earth?
• Jesus came to redeem the world... do I think he failed?
• Gap analysis -- rich vs. poor, religious vs. secular, race vs. race. Are we getting better or worse?
• Favorite movie quotes -- action and sci-fi films

It's gonna be a fun ride!

Parenting quotes

These were from the last days of my 2006 "Daily Dads" calendar at the office:

"No one knows the true worth of a man but his family. The dreary man drowsing, drop-jawed in the commuter train, the office bore, the taciturn associate -- may be the pivot of a family's life, welcomed with hugs, told the day's news, asked for advice. No longer Mr. B., but Dad. No longer a nonentity but a man possessed of skills and wisdom; courageous and capable, patient and kind. Respected and loved." -- Pam Brown

"Children are natural mimics, who act like their parents despite every effort to teach them good manners." -- Erma Bombeck

Stat of the week

Thousands of Americans have heart attacks each year while surrounded by strangers (in restaurants, at the movies, in the park, etc...). In these cases, less than 1 out of 3 receives CPR.

Shame on us.

Picture of the week