My cousin is a stay at home dad to three little girls (2, 5, 7) and he is just fantastic with them. They are fabulous girls. When he took off work with the first one he said he planned on going back, and went back for a time I think, but then realized he was happier at home and the day care expense wiped out what he was making. It has been great for all of them.

Congrats SAEF!
I won't go into the details but I was pretty low emotionally last week and began sneaking candies and baked items. Secrecy is a key ingredient of weight gain for me. So just saying here that my weight is creeping up is a very powerful way to break the pattern. Since I know exactly what I need to do to get on the dietary track, it's these psychological patterns I must face. I had a great day yesterday and on Friday morning I will weigh myself again (unless I slip up; then it's back to the scale immediately).
The winter weight question is interesting for me. As you may remember, my wife Karen has been a maintainer for almost 30 years now (and complained today that she was all the way up to 108 pounds!!). Even she has a four-pound difference between her average winter weight and her average summer weight. Seems almost like raw instinct to have a little something stored up for the cold, I don't know. But that's no excuse for me to let my weight creep up all winter!!! My goal is to at least get down around 190 this winter and stay there, then get into my super-summer weight range of 180-185 by June. But for now I need to just get back on track. Day two, onward!

Glad you are back on track Chris. That's the important thing-- to catch things and correct them before they go too far awry.

I am in the midst of this yucky cold. Almost no voice and no energy. Should be an interesting day in the library. It's my first time getting sick this school year so that in itself is a miracle. I'm just looking forward to getting through the day. If I feel up to it, I'll do yoga this afternoon and then some quality couch/bed time after that.

Goodness gracious! Just when you think it's all done, it starts over again. This is in regards to our former business partner. Years ago, he entered into a building contract and failed to "x" out certain portions of the contract and as such we've been involved in a couple lawsuits over it. (Basically, we were unable to provide insurance due to the type of construction and there was a verbal agreement that the builder would cover us under their policy, which is called a wrap.) But he signed the contract indicating we would provide insurance. Then he leaves and then we get sued. We settled the first lawsuit and are still working on getting out of the second, but racking up attorney fees as a result.

So we get this remodel job on another house that the former partner did most of the work on. He had previously said he'd be willing to trade his time to help us on layout and stuff for what we've had to pay for his "omission of fiduciary duty" (as our attorney puts it). We gave him the plans and he worked on them.

And then he sent us a bill.

Did he send the bill after finding out that you were moving to a new building?

oh, yes. We told him we were moving out just before Christmas. He was pretty good about that.

Congratulations, saef!

I am not tempted at all by GS cookies. They are expensive and don't even taste good! (And don't get me started on boy scout popcorn - yuck!) I was at the grocery store with my daughter and there were some girls posted out front selling them. DD just says, "Don't bother; my MOM won't let us have any." Right you are ... :-)

Mega Congratulations, saef, for your new promotion.

Only advice I have is to be aware that you have the talents to do the job.

My first promotion to a supervisory position was announced as a by-the-way in a regular staff meeting. Taken by surprise, I later approached my boss and asked if there was anything special I should know. "No," he said, "It's just the job you've been doing for a while now." <sigh> . . . male engineers of that era weren't the most communicative creatures.

ARGHHHH I forgot I had agreed like, a month ago to go to "Pizza Wars" with my roommate's younger brother on Thursday...I then made plans to meet friends I never see, AND to play at an open mic night! I don't know what to do - I DON'T want to eat pizza!

Too funny! Your dd sounds awesome!

Krampus-- what are pizza wars? They sound deadly!! Fake an illness???

I'm going anyway, it's been decided...it's basically $8 all you can eat pizza from 15+ different competing pizzerias.

Friend's bro has severe social anxiety and I had committed to it months ago. Guilt of blowing him off and disappointing him would be worse than any amount of pizza eating that may occur.

Then it's for a good cause Krampus. I know several people with social anxiety (my dd for one) so I know how much it means to him. Plus it sounds super yummy!!

Saef, congratulations on the promotion! Change is scary, but I have no doubt you'll be a wonderful manager.

Krampus, not disappointing your friend's brother sounds like a good reason to go. Maybe you can talk to him and keep away from all the pizza.

Dagmar, hopefully Bulut will settle down around dogs once he has some good experiences.

As a former Girl Scout (from Brownies all the way through H.S.), the cookies are nostalgic for me, too, although we didn't have as many kinds as they do now. Luckily, the nostalgia doesn't include actually eating them so I just donate the $ and call it good. If I did buy a box, it would be Samoas for sure.

Today we woke up to a winter wonderland. All the snow-covered trees were quite beautiful, and the snow was light and fluffy. I, a confirmed snow hater, actually enjoyed the sight. But I was really glad that the sun came out and the roads were clear by the afternoon. That's the way it should be--beautiful when I wake up, gone when I want to go anywhere. My DH and I even took a walk on the bike path. After the last two weeks of inversion and icy roads/sidewalks, it was lovely to see the snow-covered foothills and to be able to walk outside without risking life and limb.

Hey, Allison, maybe you can answer this for me as you're in a construction business. During a home inspection today, we discovered that the company that remodeled our bathroom in 2010 didn't reattach the floor insulation in two places. I sent the owner an e-mail with two photos showing the problem. Is he under any obligation (other than ethical) to fix the problem? What can I do if he doesn't respond? Thanks!

Morning all,

The front that is bringing snow to those of you in the north is coming through here later today with rain, thunderstorms. There are tornado warnings but it looks like it will be much worse north of here (duck, Shannon!). Even though today would be a terrible day for field work, these winter office doldrums are getting to me. Snacking will not make it better. It's yoga evening, but since the weather isn't supposed to come through until later I chanced bringing the dog to daycare today so she can get her exercise in. Last night I went to my choral rehearsal as much so I would have something to do if anything. I'm afraid left to my own devices will lead to eating.

Krampus, pizza wars sounds interesting. Hopefully focusing on interacting w friend's bro will take the focus off of so much food. How about eating a salad before you go so you don't go hungry. "Pizza wars" sounds like a title akin to "Hunger Games". Glad it's not actually so violent.

Michele, sorry you are sick. Hope you feel better soon and the library is peaceful today.

Allison, I'm so glad that you are getting out of your building arrangement with this guy. He sounds like the type you need to get every agreement in writing with, and double check the writing!

Chris, Michele is right. So you slipped. The important thing is that you're back on track. Good for you.

Jessica, how neat DH is staying at home. I'm sure the support group will be really helpful. My DS & BIL are also part of an online list-serve where they can get advice. I'd think if anything being the only dad in the group will make the moms help him even more than another mom: "Oh, gosh, a stay-at-home DAD! That guy is GREAT!"

We got that weather front through here last night but it was all thunderstorms and rain, no ice or snow. Temps above 60 yesterday! Driving in to work today all of the rivers and creeks we passed were overflowing their banks -- not enough for real flooding here in the city, but I bet out in the rural areas they are having more problems. Somehow Carter slept through most of the thunder, then woke up right at the tail end of it and whined about it. Luckily he was able to calm himself by chewing on his nylabone (funny how that works).

Bill, that is still how promotions work around here! I was only able to get promoted after I'd been doing the job of the next level up for a year. Basically a promotion is an acknowledgement of what you're already doing, so there's not really any added responsibility when you get promoted. You might get a role change without getting promoted which might involve more responsibility though, like my coworker who became our project lead but kept her same job title.

Krampus, good luck with the pizza wars.

Michele, are you feeling any better today?

Allison, sorry you're still having issues with that guy. How frustrating!

Sheila, the snow sounds lovely! Isn't it nice to get out for a walk after being cooped up? It warmed up so much here yesterday that taking the dog for a walk was much more pleasant than when we have to get bundled up from head to toe.

Chris, today is a new day!

Shannon, where does your stay-at-home dad cousin live? It seems like it's far more common in big cities and on the coasts, but not so much here in Indy (although I know there are a few). You'd think with the economic downturn and many men losing their jobs there would be more stay-at-home dads, but I suppose there are a lot of people who would label themselves as "unemployed" rather than "stay-at-home dad."

Megan, I hope your thunderstorms aren't any worse than ours were last night. I was joking with one of my coworkers about how when DH is a SAHD and he takes his two little girls to the park the moms will all think he's a pedophile. My coworker was like, "No, he'll be the hot dad that all of the single moms hit on!"