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Showing posts from December, 2011

Gives a whole different meaning to the expression about "You can pick your firends..."

I belong to a group through Trev and Emma's elementary school called All-Pro Dads and I get an email a day from them with advice on how to be a better dad and/or husband. They are usually pretty short and always have a link to another site, usually with a top ten type list of helpful hints on whatever the issue of the day is. Today's email was thought-provoking for some reason: Can You Affair-Proof Your Marriage? In the book His Needs, Her Needs: Building An Affair-Proof Marriage, author Willard Harley relays the following about how affairs start:   “An affair usually begins as a friendship. Frequently your spouse knows your lover; not uncommonly, the third party is the husband or wife of a couple you both know and consider ‘best friends.’ In another common pattern, the outside lover comes from your spouse’s family – a sister or brother. Or you may have met your lover at work.   When an affair starts, it usually begins as a friendship. You share problems with the other

5th Day Of Christmas: New Traditions for your Family

Hmmm...not sure what this one means, whether it means new traditions we've recently started, are going to start this yer or want to start. But that's cool, that means I can make it mean whatever I want it to mean. And I'm still kind of stumped. I guess we're kind of stick-in-the-muds. On the other hand, how can you have a new tradition? I remember coming up with a pair of linked personal mottos back as far as high school or college...and that is pretty far back...: Try anything once. Do anything twice and it's a tradition. So, things we've recently done twice...CHERYL?! Ah - here's one we've done the previous two years. We had gotten our Christmas tree every year at a place near Parkesburg with a little train you ride out to where the trees are and then search around until you find one, then you cut it down and drag it back to the train to take you back. It was expensive and the selection seemed to wane. So we started going to a new place near Paul

On the third day of Christmas: Holiday Bucket List

Only 4 days behind on my days of Christmas...My holiday bucket list - interesting concept. The first thing that came to mind was spending Christmas somewhere else some day, like at my sisters' Laurie or Judy's, but that's not only presumptuous, it may not be practical. That said, I think one year, I'd like not to either give or receive a paid-for gift. I'd like to make all my gifts and ask only for handmade gifts, or donations to the non-profits of the giftgiver's choice.

Or maybe the cute girl in the background who seems to typify most of the country - not even paying attention

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I don't know which part I like best about this picture - Newt with his demonic laugh or the guy in the background, summing up perfectly the way we all feel about the possibility of Newt being elected President in 2012.

Second Day of Christmas: Budget-Friendly Ideas

Assuming this is meant to be Christmas-related...of course the very most budget-friendly idea is to spend less on Christmas. It's kind of a running joke with Ev and Liss that every year, Cheryl and I announce somberly that this year, we are really cutting back on Christmas presents and this year we mean it! But then the piles under the tree are as big as ever. It just never seems fair to the younger kids that the older kid/s got the full Christmas and then we started cutting back by the time the younger kids bothered to show up. But that aside, the thing we've done, and by "we", I mean Cheryl, is that about 4 years ago, she spent every available hour in the weeks leading up to Christmas making some simple drawstring Christmasy bags to "wrap" everything in. Of course, I say they are simple, because I wasn't the one making them. They are really cool, and they sure make the wrapping process so much easier and faster. They save us a fair amount on wrappi

A reminder we all need from time to time

In case you get down sometimes about President Obama, and let's face it, we probably all have been from on occasion. http://blackliberalboomer.posterous.com/i-am-not-disappointed-in-president-obama Interesting. Makes me realize that in actuality, his actions are the polar opposite of his soaring campaign speeches of 2008, and I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way. Where his speeches were all about hopes and dreams, his actual leadership style is all about the pragmatic and the art of just getting things done, even if the results aren't as perfect as any of us, or either side of the political aisle would want. One thing we all have to admit. He gets results. And from my point of view, he gets a lot of results I heartily approve of.

First Day of Christmas: Favorite Local Non-Profit

I'm glad this was the first one on Barbara's list, because it was easy for me to answer and helped inspire me to try to keep up with her. My #1 sort of doesn't count, since it isn't exactly Christmas related, so I'll list a few: 1 - West Chester Friends School http://www.wcfriends.org/subsite/dist/page/about-wcfs-1048 I have to list them first, both because it's true, and because I'm the (unlikely) President of their Board of Directors, a position I take very seriously and am trying to give as much time to as possible without infringing on family responsibilities which are primary, or work, which leads me to: 2 - North American Land Trust www.nalt.org Probably should be #1 since they are my employer and a really great organization that every single employee is extremely proud to be a part of. We 11 employees have been here together for so long and work so well together that (cliche alert) we really do feel like family. And yeah, that means we piss e

On the first day of Christmas...I procrastinated...but it's a McVickar Holiday Tradition!

With inspiration from my blogger friend, Barbara Bradley Hoyer, and her post here: http://alifeinbalance.net/12-days-christmas-nov-28-dec-9/ , I am going to start my 12 days of Christmas here on December 1st, partially because that seems a logical day to sart, and possibly because I've procrastined. I'm also going to skip weekends and december 9th, because I don't anticipate posting on those days. Here are the topics she suggested and the schedule I'll try to keep to: December 1: : Favorite Local Nonprofit December 2: Budget Friendly Ideas December 5: Holiday Bucket List December 6: New Traditions for your Family December 7: Holiday Memories December 8: Favorite Cookie Recipe December 12: Favorite Recipes December 13: How you Green the Holidays December 14: Favorite Local Place to Visit December 15: You decide the topic December 16: Your Grown up Christmas List December 19: Open House (Show off your decorating!) I hope folks will comments eit

Not that you spend much time looking at his hair anyway

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This is solely for your benefit, Laur: http://www.gq.com/blogs/the-q/2009/10/stadium-style-hey-chase-utley-wash-your-hair.html