Nate Houge

30May2007

work at home/stay at home/stuck at home

Posted by nate under: fact.

it’s true that i’m a stay at home dad.  it’s also true that my wife goes to luther seminary and is on her full time (6 days a week as recommended by our health conscious church body) internship.  You may ask yourself how does a stay at home dad and a full time student make ends meet?  Well folks, I work from home. 

and it kinda sucks because everyday is take your daughters to work day.  this would suck less if i weren’t so anti-child labour and what not.  but i am.  it would also suck less if i could multi-task.  but I can’t.  what i usually end up doing is being a half-assed dad who’s mind is constantly wandering from the coloring/painting/diapering/animalplaying task at hand and trying to figure out what to do as soon as the family falls asleep or plays with tired mom when she gets home.  and then, because i suck at multi-tasking, my mind goes back to all the ways i could’ve been a more focused dad during the day and i find myself looking for a way to clear my head.

this morning jodi took the two girls grocery shopping and i recieved 3 hours of quiet house.  it was the best morning of my life.  I tinkered on my single-speed, changing the chain ring and obtaining a much more satisfying gearing.  rode for 10 miles. got home. cleaned house. cleaned body. had a beer (it was noon by this time and that makes it okay.  especially if its the best morning of your life.) and listened to ryan adams while making lunch for the ladies.  I didn’t get any work done.  and it was awesome and it totally cleared my head. 

and then i went back to being a half-assed dad – although i will say in my favor that jodi and lydia took off again for an hour and elsa took the most bottle feeding she’s ever taken and was altogether content for the most part in her mother’s absence, which makes me feel like a more whole-assed dad which is every half-assed dad’s goal i imagine.

and now i hear her again.  and i finally downloaded the season finale of lost.  so i’ll go downstairs, rock the kid, and whatch lost with jodi.  and that will bring a semblance of normalcy to the somewhat shocking state of being a parent of two beautiful girls.

30May2007

ideally

Posted by nate under: Uncategorized.

idealist nate says,

i may not be on the same page as judith, but what a great way to reevaluate ones place in the consumer food change.  as she has noted the experiment is not about frugality (hence keeping the diabetic rat.  i mean cat) but i’m sure that she’ll make some interesting financial discoveries and relate that to quality of life.  would it hurt any of us to take time for a consumption fast?  and in so doing wouldn’t our consuming be more joyful and less of a void filler?  hmmm… maybe i should consume more thoughtfully.  Good work Jude.

30May2007

glad i didn’t buy it.

Posted by nate under: Uncategorized.

this is the book i’m reading.  so far, two chapters into it, i remain torn.  call me natalie ‘noxema’ imbruglia. 

cynical nate says, “how lame. rich well educated majority has issues over whether or not hair cuts are necessities, and doesn’t bat an eye at purchasing insulin for the diabetic cat.  don’t get me wrong i’ve heard the whole ‘judge a society by how they treat their pets,’ but give me a freakin’ break.  solution: let the cat play in the street, go to the humane society and get another cat (trust me, we’re not running out of them anytime soon) and let it feed on the mice around your house in vermont or your apartment in brooklyn.  that’s right the author has two homes with her partner.  there’s a necessity if i ever saw one.  another time she gets all anxious about borrowing wax for her ski’s because the wax got left in one of the other 2 cars (total 3) that these two own.  and she bumbles over this dilema for the entire 25 miles she’s driving to go to a place to cross country ski.  Admirably they’ve given up processed and prepared food.  Luckily, they can afford to shop at co-ops and purchase lemon grass and organic tofu.  I, cynical nate, hope to God that something changes as this book continues, ’cause right now its pathetic.

 tune in later for the idealists take on things.