‘Of course, sir. But it is available on a first come, first serve basis, and sometimes we do run out…’

Oh my God, there had been a run on Australian currency! Poor Kat will be wandering around The Land Down Under without legal tender paying exorbitant ATM fees!!! The horror! The unadulterated horror!!!!

I gave myself a few quick slaps to sober up, but she spoke first: ‘Depending on when you’re coming in, I could hold the money for you.’

The rain that has been crashing down on Avon, CO suddenly eased, the clouds parted, and, I swear on a stack of books that aren’t the Bible, Handel’s ‘Messiah’ was sung by strong, disembodied voices in the fresh new light.

The wonderful, dear, sweet, lovely young woman on the other end of the line promised, swore, crossed her heart even, that fresh, clean, unmarked Australian currency would be waiting with our name on it, and they accept cash, credit/debit cards, and checks.

What service! What hospitality! What the heck was I thinking?!

Now to start packing…

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At the time of this writing, I have yet to sit down and watch the season finale of Glee. I could say it’s because I’ve been soooo incredibly busy… But in reflection, I may be putting it off just because right now, I have the finale to look forward to.

Once I watch it, then what?

And why do I like that stupid show so much?

I can’t really answer that question. When I watch with my wife, it never fails. One of us turns to the other and says ‘You know, this show really is stupid.’

What do I hate about Glee? I hate that it’s completely full of simple archetypes that they try to pass off as living breathing characters. The dumb jock, the pregnant teenager, the gay kid, the ditzy cheerleader, the slutty cheerleader, the wannabe diva, etc., etc., blech!

Plots that just fall off the radar bug me too. Two characters will hate each other in one episode, fall in love the next, hate each other again, and everybody acts like everything’s normal! Come to think of it, it is a show about teenagers, maybe this bit is closer to the truth than I give them credit for…

Then there’s the horrible dialogue. The cursed ‘How can we best lead this conversation to the next song’ way of writing turns my stomach. You can see it coming from a mile away. Come on, folks!

I think to myself, ‘I’m leaving this show and never looking back!’ But wait, Sue Sylvester is going to kiss Will Scheuster?! Aw, this I gotta see! Speaking of cranky, bitter, insulting Sue: She has a ‘handi-capable’ sister, and every scene with the two of them will bring a tear to your eye, Sue’s that tender.

NO! Stop it! I hate this show! Where’d Will’s Ex go, she was deliciously malicious. What? She’s back? I better watch!

DAMN YOU GLEE!!!!!!!

There are probably a hundred other reasons why I love to hate Glee, but right now I’ve got a finale to watch.

What is it about Glee that keeps us coming back? I don’t know, but maybe Joel Watson’s doctor figured it out…

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During my last perusal of a book department in a major retailer, I was quickly scanning the romance novels, trying to get to the meager science fiction section (sci-fi seems to always be meager in the mountains, despite many a great sci-fi tale being set here…), when a pattern quickly emerged. I can easily say that over half of the steamy romance covers featured some form of pregnancy, whether on the cover illustration or in the title.

What’s up with that?

I’ve always thought of romance novels as housewife porn that’s legal to be sold at the supermarket. Maybe because it’s prose?

But what’s the fascination with pregnancy being prominent to the story? Is this some kind of weird fetish thing? Or does it call on something deeper? Do women prefer to keep their escapism closer to their own lives? While men (and by men, I mean me) prefer their escapism to be about characters that have powers beyond those of mortal men and have adventures in alien and fantasy landscapes, do women prefer characters that they may have something in common with?

Just consider this one man’s futile attempt to pry open the unfathomable depths of the broad female psyche.

As for trying to figure out Harlequin‘s marketing strategies? I gave that up when I discovered Harlequin Nascar…

Incidentally, my wife can’t help with this. She’d rather read Lord of the Rings or something by Jane Austin. Which is one more reason why I love her…

********************************************************************

**Just a reminder, my donate button on the right side of the blog is going to Kat and her People to People delegation to Australia. Give what you can when you can to help her on this life-changing journey!**

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@KitiaraTomsen He has to watch his Bat-figure! in reply to KitiaraTomsen #

Spending more time reading an actual book than online the past couple days. I may have a fever. I'm sure it'll pass… #

Currently eating a muffin top infused with vitamins. No kidding. http://bit.ly/GvY3g I'm really sacrificing to be healthy here. #

@tysdaddy We pretty much just got sidetracked. Two little ones can do that to you… in reply to tysdaddy #

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@CK_Lunchbox If you're gonna RT one of my posts wait for the one I'm working on now! And 'Broke Back Tweeting'? You've gone too far, sir! in reply to CK_Lunchbox #

@CK_Lunchbox Thanks! I haven't had my coffee either, which is probably why I'm blogging about Mormons… in reply to CK_Lunchbox #

@melisalw Agreed! @CK_Lunchbox #

@DeeshaPhilyaw Thanks. Next week I'll tackle politics. Seriously, thanks for reading! in reply to DeeshaPhilyaw #

@CK_Lunchbox Thank you! I was hesitant to start this, but I must admit, today's responses have been very… encouraging. in reply to CK_Lunchbox #

But of course, @rreimund, we should. Are there any fathers out there having a great #FatherhoodFriday #

@melisalw Yeah, she's great at this stuff. I, however, usually wind up owing more money by the end of the conversation… in reply to melisalw #

He left me off of his "good men" #FF but I think I left him off of my 'cool dudes' list. So I guess me & @johncaveosborne are even! #FF #

@melisalw in reply to melisalw #

@CK_Lunchbox @melisalw @SeattleDad Make mine a Jaeger! #

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@ned_perry Oh, she’ll get hers… Anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering… in reply to ned_perry #

@LiLAsha Glad you liked it! Details on punishment to be determined and revealed at a later date… #

@JRReedradio Have a good one! I’ll be sure to pimp your page while you’re gone! in reply to JRReedradio #

After the wild ride of today, I’m getting an icee. Those who are tracking the progress of my diet: don’t. Not today. I deserve this! #

@jennifer8582 Sounds like your kid’s doing just fine! I’m actually planning my next blog post about that very thing! (shameless plug!) #

@daytonward re: twitter updates: I’m at 2,975 updates. Race ya! (Don’t worry about it, you’re one of the best twits out there!) in reply to daytonward #

Just had to drop the blog post I was writing to take The Teenager and Some Boy to school. Serious crimp in my #FatherhoodFriday style! #

@PapaBradstein LOL! and I thought my name was common! in reply to PapaBradstein #

@comix VINDICATION! My wife’s response? ‘Well, you’re a guy. You can’t deal with distractions! in reply to comix #

@CK_Lunchbox If you’re blushing now, you must not have seen my most recent email yet! in reply to CK_Lunchbox #

@CK_Lunchbox @melisalw I was trying to work the word ‘bromance’ in to a tweet. Glad you guys beat me! #

@melisalw LOL! It’s not any fun without an audience! Whoa. Now I’m creeped out… in reply to melisalw #

@SurprisedMom Yes we do! Thanks for understanding! in reply to SurprisedMom #

@melisalw Ooo! DM me, please! in reply to melisalw #

@CK_Lunchbox Seriously? What are you still doing here? in reply to CK_Lunchbox #

@rreimund Wow! Don’t know if I deserve all that! But, OK, I accept. The world of goodness bounces off me and sticks to you! #ff in reply to rreimund #

@Frumph And thus, the Master becomes the student! in reply to Frumph #

It always makes me happy when I can reference Star Trek in texts to people from work! #

@PapaRocks6 Pandora can be dangerous if you’re trying to be productive, though… in reply to PapaRocks6 #

@SurprisedMom I should tell my wife. She thinks women are better then men at multi-tasking! ;D in reply to SurprisedMom #

@PapaRocks6 I just tried one of the sausages. They are good! I always taste before I serve! in reply to PapaRocks6 #

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This post brought to you by Dad-Blogs' FatherHood Friday. Be sure to swing by for all the other great Dads and Moms who love to share their lives online!

I’ve spent all morning working on today’s post, well, the bits of the morning where I wasn’t taking The Teenager to school. Then there were the times I was holding the baby, which is a chore, let me tell you. Every time I hold that warm little snuggly body against me I can’t help thinking that I’d much rather be in front of my glaring blank white computer screen instead of throwing the baby in to the air and hearing his sweet, genuine giggle as I tickle under his ribs with my nose. Who wants that?

Anyway, where was I? Oh, yeah! I’ve spent all morning on a post that I can be proud of. This is not that post. I’ve decided to postpone that post until next Fatherhood Friday in order to do more research and obtain further photographic evidence.

So for today, please enjoy this peek in to my random fatherly brain, and I promise, next week will be a post more worthy of your precious time.

• My wife is the best editor/reviewer that I could ask for. She is the one person that I would allow to give me advice on my writing. She nails it every time, and is the reason the real post for today is postponed. I felt like something was missing, and she filled in the blanks. Man, I love her.
• Pandora just played Richard Strauss’s ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spoke Zoroaster), Tone Poem For Orchestra, Op. 30‘, which was the theme for ‘2001: A Space Odyssey‘, and I had to stop what I was doing and turn it up. I lowered myself to the level of my desk and imagined my laptop was a monolith. It did not, however, make me more cosmically aware. It just wanted to tell me not to use teeth whiteners or drink acai berry juice. The search for cosmic enlightenment continues…
• Last night, my considerate Calli gave my wife an astute warning about the window sill: ‘Don’t touch that,’ she said, ‘I put a booger there.’ She’s so thoughtful!
• Tristin’s asleep in his bouncy while still holding tightly to his knobby bouncy ball. He’s so cute!
• My wife hasn’t missed a day on the Wii Fit since we started, while it just yelled at me for missing four. My Mii is now sentenced to wear a hoody to sweat it out. Come on, Wii! I’ve been busy!
• We’re still wrestling with exactly the right punishment for Kat after she dented the wall with the Wii remote, and then didn’t tell us… Any ideas out there?
• I am pleased and honored to announce that I have 42 fans on Facebook after starting my fan page four days ago! Thank you all for the support! If you haven’t fanned me yet, there’s a convenient badge on the right for you to do so! My hope is that the page will add another level of interactivity to this blog, and sometimes I’ll be using it as a testing ground for upcoming posts, so be sure to check the discussion board! (Hint, there are a couple of discussions up now…)

Aaaand… my brain just stopped working. Hope all is well with you, and have a great time reading all the other Fatherly posts on this Fatherhood Friday!

@CK_Lunchbox Definitely my pleasure! Working on my own post now… in reply to CK_Lunchbox #

My proficiency in Rhythm Parade on the Wii Fit makes me wonder why I never joined marching band in high school… #

@WeaselMomma @melisalw As long as we're debating twitter apps, I also use @tinytwitter from my phone… in reply to WeaselMomma #

@WeaselMomma You're hubby's a fanboy? Is he on twitter? Can we hang out? in reply to WeaselMomma #

Speaking of acting, Pandora is playing music from 'Braveheart'. Was there a bad actor in that one? (Off screen life aside… ) #

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@twistedxtian …and a couple holes where the plastic doesn't meet the frame, but it's still better than before! in reply to twistedxtian #

@CK_Lunchbox I'm thinkin about starting Bruce Wayne's Lunchbox! http://twitpic.com/y3a01 #

@Psiqueue re: VDay: I can always count on you to make me feel better when I feel like I've gone off the deep end! #

Currently eating an apple and trying to strike poses like Kirk taking the Kobayashi Maru. It's cooler than smoking! #

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Just canceled my ebay store. Didn't foresee any ROI soon. Will continue to list my junk, though. Just look for Howefitz! #

@PapaBradstein How about rocking in a chair that is not actually a rocking chair? (Still on all 4 feet, don't worry…) in reply to PapaBradstein #

I finally got my resolutions posted. I'll be posting my 'Best of 2009' post sometime in … March. http://su.pr/2863F2 #

If you're a true friend, you'll read about my new year resolutions. http://su.pr/2863F2 If you're not, you'll ignore this tweet. #

@PapaRocks6 Skype is something I haven't ventured into yet, though I am now on Google Wave, if I can figure out how to find contacts… #

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