Perhaps snuggling up on the edge of mischievous, A and I played a little trick on J-Girl and Lil' A this morning...
We ran up to their room, banged on their door, and rushed in saying we overslept and they were late for school. Everyone got a good laugh...except for them. Yay, humor!
So apparently school is closed again for day #5 on account of someone spilling their fountain drink in the road and losing a few cubes of ice. Ugh. The kiddos are happy about missing days, but I was like...
"You won't be happy when you have to make up those days in the summer."
Which to my surprise they replied...
"Nuh-uh, they don't do that. They aren't allowed to."
Um, what? When I was a kid, I thought they tacked on days like Legos on a plastic brick house. So I asked...
"What, do they just throw out the syllabus and wing it for the rest of the year?"
"Yep."
Well. Okay then. That's....weird.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
God is my content editor
Okay, so I've come to the realization that God - not me - is the one deciding content on this blog about 99.9% of the time. Join me, won't you? As I tell you a story...
About today. Back up, last night. When A and I got home from a friend's testimony, I parked the van that A's ex lent us in exchange for our car for kiddo safety assurance. I simply parked the van, got out, went inside like life was a bowl of cherries. No biggie right? Well, I'm not used to cars who's lights must be manually turned off. Right. Fast forward to...
This morning. After the kids are piled into the van and ready to go to school. Oh, the thing wouldn't start. I left the lights on all night and the battery was DOA. Awesome. So...
We hopped out of the van and crammed into the SUV and cruised on down the road to various schools, dropping off various children, throughout various traffic. All the while in my head, I'm thinking "time to buy some jumper cables."
And we did, hours later, at Wal-Mart. Great story, Brennan. But wait, there's more!
As I hop behind the wheel of our trusty SUV, the car won't start! We actually had to use the jumper cables I just bought for the van for our SUV after flagging down a couple good Samaritans. Probably pretty rough trying to jumpstart a dead battery in one car with a dead battery in the other I'd imagine...
Talk about irony. Talk about content.
About today. Back up, last night. When A and I got home from a friend's testimony, I parked the van that A's ex lent us in exchange for our car for kiddo safety assurance. I simply parked the van, got out, went inside like life was a bowl of cherries. No biggie right? Well, I'm not used to cars who's lights must be manually turned off. Right. Fast forward to...
This morning. After the kids are piled into the van and ready to go to school. Oh, the thing wouldn't start. I left the lights on all night and the battery was DOA. Awesome. So...
We hopped out of the van and crammed into the SUV and cruised on down the road to various schools, dropping off various children, throughout various traffic. All the while in my head, I'm thinking "time to buy some jumper cables."
And we did, hours later, at Wal-Mart. Great story, Brennan. But wait, there's more!
As I hop behind the wheel of our trusty SUV, the car won't start! We actually had to use the jumper cables I just bought for the van for our SUV after flagging down a couple good Samaritans. Probably pretty rough trying to jumpstart a dead battery in one car with a dead battery in the other I'd imagine...
Talk about irony. Talk about content.
Monday, February 7, 2011
thoughts on the highway while in traffic
So on the way back from dropping the kiddos off at school this morning, while A sat quietly in the passenger seat, and E and J-Boy talked about traffic and if the yellow cars are "mustard" and the white cars are "mayonnaise," then what were the blue cars called? I didn't know. Blueberries? But, anyhoo...
I got to thinking. Thinking about what I have attempted to accomplish in life. In the realm of "jobs" to be specific. My new eBook to really hone in on it. I was thinking that even if I don't sell one little digital copy, that I had at least set out to write and publish a book, and I was successful. And then that begs the question: What defines success? The bravery to do the action, or the results of that action once set in motion?
The simple answer would be the "results." But, like life, right answers don't come easy. And "results" aren't always a success story. So I'm banking on setting goals and having the courage to follow through with them.
Here's a list of jobs I've held in my life thus far. Not an impressive, exotic or monetarily stimulating list, but a list nonetheless. And I'm not sure why I feel the need to write these down, but I do, so I'm gonna:
1. Little League baseball scorekeeper
2. Little League baseball umpire (t-ball, pinto, mustang)
3. concession stand dude
4. bagboy (aka. grocery bagging specialist) at Brookshire's
5. bagboy (aka. grocery bagging specialist) at Albertson's (two locations)
6. salesperson at County Seat (not sure that clothing store is still around)
7. salesperson/assistant manager/manager at Sunglass Hut
8. assistant manager at quite literally a sunglass store who's name escapes me
9. assistant manager at Occhiali da Sole (another sunglass store)
10. promotions guy at 103.7 KVIL and affiliates
11. co-manager at Solstice Sunglass Boutique (two separate occasions)
12. props assistant for Prison Break on FOX
13. bar/restaurant Critic for ENVY Magazine - Dallas
14. inventory helper at Bath & BodyWorks
15. movie/DVD critic for CORE!Dallas magazine
16. senior editor for BlueSky Journal
17. assistant propmaster for The Deep End on the CW - where I met A!!!
18. assistant propmaster for Chase on the WB
....which brings me to...
19. independent screenwriter/author/blogger/whatever pays the bills + president of A Couple Bucks & a Bible + CEO of Ichthys Worldwide, LLC (a holding company.)
(Not on the list is a brief stint I did serving as Examiner.com's "Dallas Nightlife Editor," and well as a few months of work I did writing freelance for a company called Demand Studios.)
Again, not sure what compelled me to write out that list other than I feel that as long as you try something, you have already succeeded. I don't think going into anything blindly assuring yourself worldy gain is good for your mental - or soulful - state of health. Sure, plan to win and plan accordingly, but as long as there is one more thing you can check off your "bucket" list, my hope is that that is where you measure how well you did.
I never thought I'd write a screenplay, but when I found out I enjoyed it, I wrote several. Only one has been made and I still wait in the wings for the final results, but others have been optioned. But if worse comes to worst, at least I set out to do something and I did it.
I never thought I'd write a book, but now one is for sale and another is in the works. That has to count for something...
I got to thinking. Thinking about what I have attempted to accomplish in life. In the realm of "jobs" to be specific. My new eBook to really hone in on it. I was thinking that even if I don't sell one little digital copy, that I had at least set out to write and publish a book, and I was successful. And then that begs the question: What defines success? The bravery to do the action, or the results of that action once set in motion?
The simple answer would be the "results." But, like life, right answers don't come easy. And "results" aren't always a success story. So I'm banking on setting goals and having the courage to follow through with them.
Here's a list of jobs I've held in my life thus far. Not an impressive, exotic or monetarily stimulating list, but a list nonetheless. And I'm not sure why I feel the need to write these down, but I do, so I'm gonna:
1. Little League baseball scorekeeper
2. Little League baseball umpire (t-ball, pinto, mustang)
3. concession stand dude
4. bagboy (aka. grocery bagging specialist) at Brookshire's
5. bagboy (aka. grocery bagging specialist) at Albertson's (two locations)
6. salesperson at County Seat (not sure that clothing store is still around)
7. salesperson/assistant manager/manager at Sunglass Hut
8. assistant manager at quite literally a sunglass store who's name escapes me
9. assistant manager at Occhiali da Sole (another sunglass store)
10. promotions guy at 103.7 KVIL and affiliates
11. co-manager at Solstice Sunglass Boutique (two separate occasions)
12. props assistant for Prison Break on FOX
13. bar/restaurant Critic for ENVY Magazine - Dallas
14. inventory helper at Bath & BodyWorks
15. movie/DVD critic for CORE!Dallas magazine
16. senior editor for BlueSky Journal
17. assistant propmaster for The Deep End on the CW - where I met A!!!
18. assistant propmaster for Chase on the WB
....which brings me to...
19. independent screenwriter/author/blogger/whatever pays the bills + president of A Couple Bucks & a Bible + CEO of Ichthys Worldwide, LLC (a holding company.)
(Not on the list is a brief stint I did serving as Examiner.com's "Dallas Nightlife Editor," and well as a few months of work I did writing freelance for a company called Demand Studios.)
Again, not sure what compelled me to write out that list other than I feel that as long as you try something, you have already succeeded. I don't think going into anything blindly assuring yourself worldy gain is good for your mental - or soulful - state of health. Sure, plan to win and plan accordingly, but as long as there is one more thing you can check off your "bucket" list, my hope is that that is where you measure how well you did.
I never thought I'd write a screenplay, but when I found out I enjoyed it, I wrote several. Only one has been made and I still wait in the wings for the final results, but others have been optioned. But if worse comes to worst, at least I set out to do something and I did it.
I never thought I'd write a book, but now one is for sale and another is in the works. That has to count for something...
Sunday, February 6, 2011
eBook's (virtually) on the shelf!
Buy my eBook! Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom at BN.com today. Click that little link there and it should take you to the Barnes & Noble website page where you can see my eBook and purchase it for your Nook, iphone, ipod, ipad or personal computer. This is pretty super exciting!
(If the link doesn't feel like working, cut and paste this into your web browser: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Chicken-Nuggets-of-Wisdom/Brennan-McMahon/e/2940012077813 )
Just $4.99 for advice and experiences pulled from this blog. Check out the cover art! And thank you guys so much for making this blog - and book - possible!
(If the link doesn't feel like working, cut and paste this into your web browser: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Chicken-Nuggets-of-Wisdom/Brennan-McMahon/e/2940012077813 )
Just $4.99 for advice and experiences pulled from this blog. Check out the cover art! And thank you guys so much for making this blog - and book - possible!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Whoaaaa! Halfway there. Whoa-oh! Livin' on a pray-ah...
Hey, we got the kiddos today through next Wednesday. It is awesome to have this blessed chaos again in our house. Man, these rooms get so eerily calm and too normal too fast when our bunch isn't here.
Like right now. What can I hear? Hm. The girls playing American Idol karaoke on Xbox360, a blender for some reason, and E being a dramatic little thing about something.
The girls - including A, who's apparently doing awesome - have been playing Idol for at least three hours straight. Maybe four. Lil' A is apparently "platinum" status. She beat out M and J-Girl a few times. Simon even said she was "head and shoulders" above the competition. So...there.
The boys and I did the usual wrestlemania thing upstairs for a bit, then we moved to the ice patch we used to call a backyard. First we slid around like goons for a bit until E got tired of that and said he was going inside. Then Lil' B, G, J-Boy and I played some soccer, some football, some...no wait, that was it. Frozen digits ahead! I went back inside. What is it out there? 5? How does Santa do it?
Thus begins our Super Weekend - Extended Version. Not a huge fan of watching football, but I love to play it. But the Super Bowl beckons to be watched. Kinda like I never liked practice, but loved playing the game. I guess I look at the regular season of anything as practice, but the championship...now that's watchable.
Like right now. What can I hear? Hm. The girls playing American Idol karaoke on Xbox360, a blender for some reason, and E being a dramatic little thing about something.
The girls - including A, who's apparently doing awesome - have been playing Idol for at least three hours straight. Maybe four. Lil' A is apparently "platinum" status. She beat out M and J-Girl a few times. Simon even said she was "head and shoulders" above the competition. So...there.
The boys and I did the usual wrestlemania thing upstairs for a bit, then we moved to the ice patch we used to call a backyard. First we slid around like goons for a bit until E got tired of that and said he was going inside. Then Lil' B, G, J-Boy and I played some soccer, some football, some...no wait, that was it. Frozen digits ahead! I went back inside. What is it out there? 5? How does Santa do it?
Thus begins our Super Weekend - Extended Version. Not a huge fan of watching football, but I love to play it. But the Super Bowl beckons to be watched. Kinda like I never liked practice, but loved playing the game. I guess I look at the regular season of anything as practice, but the championship...now that's watchable.
Yahoo! Contributor Network
Forgot to mention that I'm now a Yahoo!/Associated Content contributor. My first piece is a rehash - but a great read-worthy rehash! - of my proposal to A.
Check it out @ http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/7707271/wait_you_said_yes_right.html?cat=41
And, uh, oh yea, the only way I get paid is if people go read it, so...
You know we have seven kids right? Just checking...
Check it out @ http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/7707271/wait_you_said_yes_right.html?cat=41
And, uh, oh yea, the only way I get paid is if people go read it, so...
You know we have seven kids right? Just checking...
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom served on a digital plate!
Okay, so in the next 24 to 48 hours, I may be a published author. It's pretty cool. And not hard at all. Literally anyone can do it. Um, wait up. "Literally anyone" may be stretching it. Not sure a baby can do it. But, I don't know, don't they have baby computers now? And then I can train the younglings to use the writing Force. Hm. Food - scratch that - nuggets for thought...
Anyhoo, my ebook from PubIt! and Barnes & Noble is titled Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom - a book I dub "a plateful of advice nuggets" pulled from this very blog. That's right! It's pretty much Adventures in Role Modeling LITE. An on-the-go version of this here adventureland.
It will be available for online upload for the low, low price of $4.99 from BN.com very soon!
I'd love for each and every one of you to snatch up a digital copy for your iPhones, iPads, nooks and computers. Tell your friends to tell their friends to tell their friends to tell...
Anyhoo, my ebook from PubIt! and Barnes & Noble is titled Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom - a book I dub "a plateful of advice nuggets" pulled from this very blog. That's right! It's pretty much Adventures in Role Modeling LITE. An on-the-go version of this here adventureland.
It will be available for online upload for the low, low price of $4.99 from BN.com very soon!
I'd love for each and every one of you to snatch up a digital copy for your iPhones, iPads, nooks and computers. Tell your friends to tell their friends to tell their friends to tell...
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