Blog Update

Another week in the books and oh man has it been a busy one. Work has been a zoo this week and I have managed to keep all other appointments. Keira had had her two ice-skating holiday shows this weekend in which she kicked serious ass. It was super fun and she seemed to be completely fine performing in front a zillion people. I hope this is a sign of things to come. She has told me a bunch of times she wants to play pee-wee hockey and understands this is a stepping stone if she is serous. She is obviously naturally athletic and recently taught herself how to do a cartwheel. Today not only did she have her 2nd Christmas show but she also had swimming lessons first thing in the morning. 

My theory of keeping her busy to help her not be sad about Mommy being gone seems to be helping. She has had a few episodes of sadness but overall she is doing well. We are looking into adding soccer to the mix soon. 

Bedtime has snuck up on me so I will leave you with this: Take care of yourself, and each other...

Blog #2

So it's been a week and I figure I will update you guys with the scoop on the Eyer household. Crys has been gone 10 days now and the house hasn't burned to the ground so there may be hope yet we will get though this. For the most part, Keira seems to me handling things well. We have been fairly productive which helps. Between work/pre-school during the work week along with practicing for her ice-skating xmas show and swimming lessons, there isn't a lot of free time.

Yesterday we went to the mall after work to get Keira some new shoes. Today we did  swimming lessons in the morning and I took her to see The Muppet Movie at the theater in the afternoon. She did pretty well. She got a little ancy toward the end but I was still proud of her. I ate way too much popcorn and it is not sitting well. Movie was fun. Keira seemed to like it which makes me happy. Afterward we came home and I cooked dinner and read her some stories. We received a special book from the family center on base about a Mommy who got deployed. She liked the book I could tell. She also watched an Elmo DVD about the same subject. (His daddy going away for a long time for work.) I think she enjoyed it even though she was teary-eyed almost the whole video. I'm sure it reminded her how much she misses Mommy.

We have been able to web-cam with Mommy every day which has been nice. The timing works out perfect so we get to see her every morning before we leave for school/work. (Crystal is just getting home. She is 11 hours ahead of us.) I am so thankful for webcam's. If you know me well enough to read this, you know I am a technology junkie and can't imagine having to go 6 months without seeing her and only communicating by way of the postal service. (I love that band)

Anyway, thanks for keeping up and reading these. If I sit in this chair any longer my foot is going to fall asleep so the above should be sufficient for tonight. I hope all of you readers are doing well and I look forward to writing at you again soon.

-Cam

1st Blog: Round 2

I have decided to blog again but just so everyone is aware, it wont be daily. I will blog when I have time and enough interesting to say to make it read-worthy. For those of you who read these, thank you. It's Saturday and I am off work due to Keira's preschool not being open on week-ends. A couple of great guys at work traded schedules with me so while Crystal is gone, I will be off Sat/Sun instead of Sun/Mon. I owe these guys big-time. This morning Keira and I went and watched my Cousin's daughter play soccer. She was here with her team from Colorado taking on a local Vegas team. It was frickin freezing and windy. We watched the 2nd half from the car. Luckily we could see the whole field well. Her team won the game 1-0 and the goal was scored by a sweet set-up from her. Afterwards we went to Famous Dave's for lunch. Keira is napping now so I figured I would fill everyone in. If you didn't already know, Crystal deployed Thursday for Kuwait. She will be there 5-6 months but we are hoping she will make it back in time for Keira's birthday in May. I am very proud of my wife and think what she is doing is selfless and amazing. Not even I can possibly know the sacrifice she is making for us and our country. Being away from Keira this long will be the hardest thing she will ever have to do. She hasn't complained once since she found out she was going and I hope her efforts don't go unnoticed.

Day 33 (Final Blog Posting)

So a big thank you to all of you who have supported me throughout this endeavor. In the beginning I questioned if I had the ability to handle this and as each day came and went, I grew more confident. I couldn't have done without my amazing wife, who gave me as much support as she could while away and always knew what to say when I was struggling or stressed out. Also my amazing daughter Keira who challenged me at at times but for the most part tried as hard as she could to help me and love me. I know it wasn't easy for her either and she was as strong as a princess could be. Finally, I want to thank all of my friends and family who offered support is every way possible. Whether that be babysitting, inviting us over to your homes, coming over to ours or just kind words on Facebook, I really appreciated it more than I could ever express verbally. You all are awesome. Today was not bad. Work was fine and minus Sterling injuring his back and being out of commission for the next few days, (YIKES) there were no real challenges. Tomorrow may be a different story. When I picked up Keira, we went out to Chili's for dinner. She colored a picture that went along with a donation to hep kids with cancer. We donated 4 dollars since Keira is 4 years old. It was her idea to donate 4. The picture she colored was hung up in the front of the restaurant. She was so proud of herself. If you missed it, here it is again: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150267615705658&set=a.10150237624740658.321835.508545657&type=1&theater

After dinner we went home, talked to Mommy, had some ice cream (it was part of the deal if she ate a good dinner) and then read stories. She crashed and then I had my rear handed to me in a game of Madden. Oh well. Tomorrow evening we pick up Mommy at the airport around 9:30pm. We are both looking forward to that very much. Again, thanks everyone for your support and I will give the blog another go round come December.


-Cam

Day 32

Alright kids. This is the home stretch. 2 more days...  Can I make it?!? Bets start at $50.00. Today was good. Woke up in a good mood and even though I had to wake up Keira, she was also in a good mood. I think we both know that Mommy will be home soon and that has a lot to do with it. (Again, not because I can't handle this but because I miss my wife and Keira misses her Mommy) No problems with the drop-off at school today. Work went well. Nothing too tasking or difficult which is always good. No hookers (literally) which is a step up from yesterday. When I got off, I had enough time to stop by 7-11 and pick Keira up some "Bug Juice" which always makes her excited.  If you are not familiar, click here: http://drinkbugjuice.com/ It's truly the highlight of her day when I surprise her with a bottle. When we got home we talked to Mommy for a while and then I made dinner while she partied with Sid The Science Kid on PBS. After dinner was a challenge. This damn lower case e is giving Keira hell. Eventually she gets it but then the next time we tackle it, its like she forgot. She will get it one of these days. Bath time was next before jammies, stories, and a song. Now do I hear $50.00?!?

Day 31

Today was good. We both had a tough time getting going but eventually it happened and I dropped her off at preschool. Although work was completely uneventful...wait. Back up. We did go to a house that was roughly 8000 sq feet which we were fairly sure there was an underground prostitution ring going on. No more details to protect the innocent. Otherwise, uneventful. After work, I picked up Keira and it was off to ice skating. Keira told me on the way she was not going to use a walker today. I asked her more that once if she was sure and she insisted that she was. We got there a little early and She picked Subway for dinner again. Once ice-skating started Keira stuck to her guns and she didn't use a walker. She did AWESOME. Here is a link in case you missed it. http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150266017595658&comments I couldn't be prouder of her. She fell at least 10 times but she kept getting back up and never cried. (She was sometimes a little dramatic about the fall and would sprawl out on her tummy) It was funny. After skating, we headed home, talked to Mommy and then headed to bed. Not a bad day...

Day 30

Today was a good day. Woke up at 8. Keira and I hung out for a while and then I decided I would drop her off at pre-school for a bit so I could get some things around the house done. Got the backyard cleaned up, organized and swept the garage, (bad plan- it was like sweeping out an oven on bake) and relaxed a bit. Actually watched a movie. Picked up Keira later in the afternoon and we came home and worked some more on lower case letters. Keira mastered the lower case "e" today. She was so proud. After that we started the movie "Monsters Versus Aliens", stopped midway and had dinner, and then finished the movie before we did jammies and stories. I like that she is finally old enough to sit still and watch a whole movie with me. Relaxed and watched some TV/Xbox before calling it a night. 4 more days!

Day 29

Set an alarm for 8am. Jumped out of bed, got Keira some breakfast, Showered, got her dressed and made it to her swimming lessons by 9am. <--------- Mad Skills. Swimming went well although she seems to still be getting frustrated when she can't do something that the rest of the students can. What she doesn't realize is that she is getting noticeably better at the things she is struggling with each week. After swimming, I took her to McDonald's for breakfast again. The Micky-D's by her swim school is nice and new and has a big "playplace".  She told me today that "This McDonald's is super nice". I explained it's because it's not in the hood. Not sure she got it. We stayed there for about and hour and then went to get the car washed. After car-wash came Petsmart to get food for Cordy and Keira picked out a toy for her. When we got home, Keira took a nap while I took care of some things around the house. When she woke up, I took her ice skating at the rink where she gets her lessons. They have open skate on Sundays from 1-4. We skated for an hour and she did soo well. Her confidence was through the roof and even though she fell, she shook it off and tried again. Toward the end of the hour, she had gone from barely moving when we got there to kicking ass. If you missed the video I posted earlier, here is the link: 

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150264143870658&comments

After ice skating, we went to Roberto's for lunch/dinner and then went to the cemetery. We were having a nice time but about 20 mins, we were both dying of heat. I am really looking forward to the fall. When we got home, Keira and I finished "Rio" in 3D and then she picked out "How The Grinch Stole Christmas". "Interesting choice" I told her. After the movie, she took a bath and then I read her some stories. I checked on her 15 minutes after I put her down and she was out cold. Played a bit of Xbox before bed. I would say it was a decent day overall. 

Day 28

Woke up today to Keira asking me to help her put PJs on one of her babies. Normally I wouldn't have a problem with this but since it was 7:15 am, I was exhausted. (and kind of crabby) Sadly, I was not able to fall back asleep. Keira and I watched some cartoons until about 9:30 or so and then we got dressed. I took her to Mimi's Cafe for breakfast. When we arrived, I noticed that her backpack full of toys was missing. It was then I realized that we left it at Red Robin last night. I called over there and luckily, they found it. After breakfast we went over there and picked it up. Next, we went to "Flip N Out". It's a huge warehouse with half of the floors are Trampolines. There are also a couple bouncy houses and blow up slides. Keira had a blast. When we were both exhausted, we headed home. We both took naps and woke up around 4. I can honestly say, the nap today helped quite a bit. After the naps, my buddy Cameron came over and we watched the Bronco game. I grilled some steaks and we played Candyland. Keira crashed around 8 and we finished up the game. Broncos won so that was cool. Super tired now so I am calling it a night. 5 more days...

Day 27

Had to wake up Keira again today. Besides yesterday, that is every day this week. I dropped her off and headed to work. Had a productive talk with my Supervisor and I feel considerably better about work than I did yesterday. Although today was another cluster-eff of a day, I think it was still progress. I did get some bad news however that my friend Meghan who was suppose to watch Keira tomorrow, injured her ankle and is unable to watch Keira tomorrow while I work. I will be taking the day off tomorrow and had to basically promise Keira the world to make up for it. She has been talking about going there non-stop for 2 weeks. Looks like I get a 3 day weekend. I think I may take take her to Flip-N-Out tomorrow. Its a place that basically has trampoline for floors. We took her there for her 4th birthday and she loved it. After work, we came home for a bit and talked to Mommy. We then headed out and went to Red Robin for dinner. Keira loves that place and I think it's pretty good as well. Afterward, we stopped by the cemetery to see Connor for a bit and then headed home. When we got home, I hooked Keira up with a scoop of vanilla ice cream with sprinkles.  We ate the ice cream outside and then she played out there for a bit while I did a little yard work. Finished off the night with the books Mommy left for Keira and then she hit the hay.  6 more days and counting....

Day 26

Ugh. Today could have been better for sure. Physically and mentally drained. 1 week left. I am pretty sure Keira is right there with me. We both her cranky when we woke up. She was still cranky when I picked her up. Work was exhausting and annoying. It was just one of those days that nothing went right. By the time I got off work and picked up Keira, I had only seconds to spare. It was definitely a frozen pizza night. I am sure you guys know what I am talking about. Tomorrow is another day. Feel free to send words of encouragement. I am just hoping I wake up and have gained the energy to push through the final 7 days.

Day 25

Today began a lot like yesterday. I had to wake up Keira again and she was a little crabby. (understandably so in my opinion) She dressed herself while I got ready, then I dropped her off at preschool. Luckily I remembered to bring the fruit salad I made for her school party. My memory is boarding that of an idiotic cross-eyed mule. Work wasn't bad minus the first job which was a total cluster-eff. Long story short, dumb people should not buy expensive complicated systems. 2nd job was in an old folks assisted living community. We were outside waiting for the bonanza who we were helping and some old lady came cruising up on our van  by foot and knocked on Sterling's window. If you missed the Facebook status earlier, it read "There is a lady of the apartment complex we are in screaming and cussing at us about how people are spying on her through her TV and how the materials inside are poisoning her from the inside out...." WTF????????? She resembled this lady to a tee. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9ViKQW33SQ The next job, the guy was nowhere to be found. My theory is that the last lady killed him and smoked him in her hookah. Finishing a bit early,  I picked up Keira a little early today. On the way home, she informed me that she got sent to the front desk to talk to "Ms Fran" because she hit one of her friends in her class. I felt bad for her. Ms Fran scares the ba-jesus out of me. I can't imagine how she makes a 4 year old feel. We had a talk on the way home about not hitting our friends. She was crying and seamed sincerely upset. We had a long talk and I think she got the message. When we got home we called Mommy, and then Keira and Cordy played outside while I made dinner. I grilled up some porkchops, made some rice and green beans, and we went after the leftovers of that fruit salad. After dinner was bathtime and then story time.  I read her the one about the Sneetches and anther one of my favorites  "and to think that I saw it on Mulberry street",  both by Dr. Seuss. Roller-coaster of a day. I would say I am getting this single dad thing down. BTW, 8 more days/

Day 24

Welcome to day 24. Not a bad one... started out with me waking up Keira for a change. I asked her how it felt to be woken up in a vindictive voice but I am not sure she got the joke. She got herself dressed without any help as she usually does. Oh, I remembered I have left out that she has been picking out her clothes for the next day by herself nightly. (makes for some interesting outfits sometimes. I try and pair things that match together to help her out but that does not always work) What is fun is that when I bought her flip flops on Sunday, she also picked out some fancy socks. Now she is basing her outfits solely on the socks she wants to wear. This means she picks out the socks and then attempts to match her clothing to the color of the sock. I would say that makes her Gangsta. Anyway, I dropped her off at preschool and headed to work. Fairly pain-free day minus the muscle I think I pulled in my back/side trying to lift a 36" Sony tube TV we had to haul away. If I don't feel better tomorrow, I am going to be pissed.  Otherwise, day was swell. After work I picked up Keira and we headed to her 2nd ice skating lesson. Ate some Baja fresh before the lesson for dinner and then headed over there. She did soo much better almost right away. I am pretty sure it was all about her confidence. I can't wait till we get to like lesson number 6. After that we had to go to the grocery store so I could buy some fruit. She is having a party at her preschool tomorrow and they asked the parents to bring the food. (?????) I looked at the sign up sheet and since there are already going to be a shmorgishborg of drinks, I signed up for fruit. We picked out like 62 different types of berries and added some grapes and when we got home, I made a giant batch of fruit salad. We called Mommy for bedtime and she talked to us and then sang Keira her bedtime song. I am officially spent. Night...

Day 23

Had to wake up early today. I didn't work today but had to get an MRI on my back. I dropped off Keira at preschool and made it to the hospital on base to get the MRI. It sucked. I had to lay down in this tube for 25 mins and the only instructions I had were to lay still and try not to swallow or it would mess up the images. I have bad allergies and all I wanted to do was swallow the entire time. I felt like I was in there for 2 hours. I finally finished and then, lucky me, went to get x-rays on the same spot.  Once I finished, I headed home. I hung out at home for a bit and had lunch. I updated my finances and then had to head to the pain doc. Thank god for streaming netflix. Although I still felt like I was wasting my day, at least I was entertained. I sat in the waiting room for 1 hour and 20 mins before my name was called. When I finally finished there, I went and dropped off my prescription at CVS. Then I went and picked up Keira early and we went to the park to play for a bit. After the park, we had dinner at KFC. O the way home we picked up my meds.  We hung out at home and played for a few hours, read her new kids mag that showed up today along with talking to Mommy somewhere in between. We worked on some "homework" for a bit and finished off the night with our usual stories and a song. Pretty good day over-all minus the waiting game I played twice at the doc's offices.

Day 22

Sundays are the day of the week I look most forward too. Daddy/Daughter day no matter what else is going on. Set my alarm for 8am though I had a little hand tickling my feet at 7:30. Apparently it was time to get up. Swimming lessons now begin at 9am instead of 10am due to Keira moving up to the next level. I got us both ready and we headed out. She did pretty well though I could tell she was little frustrated and I had to have a talk with her about mid-lesson. She had been coasting my her way through her last couple lessons. Overall she did well but any outsider would have been able to tell it was her fist class at this level. After swimming we went to McDonald's for some breakfast and then she played in the "play place" for about 45 mins. We stopped by the cemetery for 20 mins or so and then we went grocery shopping. When we got home and I put the groceries away. Then Keira helped make Jello to have later for desert. Once we finshed that. we watched "Rio" on 3D Bluray. We didn't finish it due to Keira needed a nap which she asked for when she got tired.  Got through about 75% though which is pretty good for her. After Naps, my buddy Cameron came over to and we went though a couple mock fantasy drafts before I did my first actual draft of the season. I invited Cameron to stay for dinner with us.I made a marinade for chicken yesterday and had been marinating chicken all day so I grilled the chicken and some corn on the cob. Served it with brown rice. Turned out pretty good. Cam took off after dinner. Keira and I played outside for a bit and then it was time for stories/bed. Not a bad Sunday

Day 21

Woke up at 8 this morning. Keira actually woke me up because she was bored. She got herself dressed while I showered and got ready to go. We headed out and had breakfast at "The Cracked Egg". After breakfast, it was a quick trip to the mall to find her some flip-flops. She has been bugging me about getting some for a few weeks now. She wanted some because I wear flip-flops a lot. We went to about 6 stores before we finally found some. Also went to the Disney store and I bought her a new pair of jammies. She is outgrowing some of her current ones. We went home and took naps after that. I also was able to get all the laundry done. After Keira woke up, we went to the Library and read books for about an hour. We checked out some stories to take with us and then went to the park. She played until we were both starving and then we went to dinner. After dinner it was already bedtime so we went home, she had some ice cream and I read her a couple of her library books before she crash. Finished off the night with a movie by myself. Pretty nice day with Keira.

Day 20

I have to be honest. Today was rough. Started off the morning with having to wake up Keira. She had no intentions on waking up and was pretty much crabby for the second I woke her. She refused to get dressed. and threw a tantrum when I asked her to get dressed and was super mad. I finally got her to get moving and I was late because of it.  Work was tough today. Spent the whole day at a clients house putting up a 110" screen with a HD projector, 5 in-ceiling speakers, a sweet universal remote and networked everything. 12 hours worth of work slotted in an 8 hour block. We finished in 8 hours but I am sooo tired. I need a break bad but I don't see it happening. After I picked up Keira, we came home and I took a shower. Sterling and his wife Brynn came to our house for dinner. It was relaxing and a nice time. Tomorrow starts a 3 day weekend. Hoping I can catch up on some much needed sleep but I am not counting on anything. Also hoping there are some "par 3 days" on the back 9. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. I know I will get through this, just gotta have a little faith.

Day 19

Officially on the back 9 of this 5 week experiment. Soon we will start counting down the days. Not yet though. Today wasn't bad. Part of this was because I had something to look forward too all day. (1st pre-season Bronco game) and Keira was excited because my buddy Cameron was coming over to watch the game with us and she absolutely adores him. She picks out her clothes every morning and today she picked out her orange Bronco shirt all on her own. She knew today was game day and she was ready. Have I mentioned how awesome my kid is? I dropped her off at pre-school and headed to work. Today was a half day for me (Best Buy is cutting back like everywhere else in America) so I was done by 12:30. I picked up some groceries,  came home, cleaned up the house a bit, and actually got in about an hour nap. I woke up and felt like a new man. I picked up Keira and by the time we got home, Cameron was on his way. I grilled Brats and made caso dip, we watched the game and enjoyed the kick-assness that comes with the NFL officially kicking off. The Broncos lost by a point in the final seconds but I didn't really care. It was fun to watch and for a couple hours and the 3 of us had a lot of fun just hanging out and watching football. I am definitely looking forward to Sundays again and with a 3 day weekend coming up, I am looking forward to that as well.

Day 18

Had a hard time getting moving today. I am officially worn out. Nothing exciting happened today really at all. Dropped off Keira at preschool, Worked all day and picked Keira up. Zombie mode and just going through the motions. I think everyone has a day like this now and then right? After I picked up the kid, we went to TGIFridays for dinner. We video called Mommy from the parking lot before we went in. After dinner, we came home for bathtime and then worked on writing lower case letters. I read her a couple books and put her to bed. Going to bed early tonight hoping tomorrow I am more myself with some energy.

Day 17

17+17... right about the half way point? Neat. Today started fine. Keira and I made it to preschool on time as usual and it was off to work. One huge job that about drove me to my breaking point by the end of the day but again, as usual I made it though. No details but lets just say Harmony 900's piss me off at least once a week.  Picked Keira up at the final minute before the preschool called the orphanage and then it was off to the ice rink for ice skating lesson #1.  We quickly ate Subway for dinner, called Mommy and then made it to the ice rink. Keira did AWESOME. She was super nervous and could barely stand up on the ice.She fell quite a few times but got up every time. She cried once but since no one noticed, she got back up and tried again. I am super proud of her. Plus she rocked her Avs jersey proud. Even told a little boy who was wearing a Blackhawks jersey that the Avs are better and his team is "boo". :) She had no idea who his team was but she knew it was a hockey jersey. I took her out for ice cream after to show her how proud I am. We stopped by the Cemetery and visited Connor for a bit and went home and had story time and a song. Today was a good day. I didn't even have to use my AK.

Day 16

Today was not a bad day at all. I didnt have to work and decided to go ahead and take Keira to preschool to have a little bit of a break. After I dropped her off I went to the Fiesta Casino and signed her up for ice skating lessons. Those actually begin tomorrow after work. I went home and got a bunch of things around the house done. Then I took a short nap and picked her up from preschool. We stopped by Smiths where I bought a rib-eye. I had picked up some corn on the cob and fresh fruit from the farmers market so I made Steak, Corn, Baked Potatoes and a fresh fruit salad. SOO glad my grill is back up and running. After dinner we talked to Mommy and then we played "Circus". She set it all up and then put on a show for me and all her babies and dolls. (See the photos I posted on Facebook) After that we made fresh fruit smoothies. Then it was time for two Curious George books and then I put her to bed.  Finished off the night by finally beating my buddy Wellsie in Madden. It was a long time coming. Back to reality tomorrow.

Day 15

Woke up this morning at 8:30! Keira got up around 6 and I heard her. I rolled over and fell back asleep and next thing I knew it was 8:30. Felt great to sleep in. Showered, made us some eggs and then it was time for swimming lessons. Keira did soooo good today. In fact, if you didn't already see my photos on FB, she graduated to the next level! I am so proud of her. After swimming, we stopped off at my friend Sterling's house to pick up his camcorder so i can put his wedding videos on DVD for him. (I have mad video making skills. and nun-chuck skills) We then went to home depot where I purchased what I thought to be the correct part to fix my grill. When we got home, I replaced the piece and sure enough, grill was back up and running. Thank you 12 dollar part. Keira and I then ate lunch and I put her down for a nap. I also tried to take a nap but after 6 times over the course of an hour of her getting up saying she wasn't tired, I gave in. I guess we aren't napping today. I turned on Shrek for Keira and I made the wedding DVD. After that, we Skyped with mommy. Tonight was Sterling's brother's 21st B day so we were invited over to their house for a BBQ. We went, ate, and had a great time. Good food and cake. Just got home and put Keira to bed. Checked on here 5 mins later and she is out. I guess she had fun today too. Mission accomplished.

Day 14!

So today is Saturday. I work Saturdays. Since preschool is not available on Saturday, Keira got to spend the day with my buddy Sterling's sister Meghan. (Nicest girl in the world. I couldn't have felt more comfortable leaving her with anyone else)  I dropped her off at 7am before work. Meghan is apparently trying to steal Keira away because she had a day of fun planned for her that out-does anything I have ever come up with in my entire life. Work was a pain in the ass today but 9 hours later, I got through it. When I started my car to go pick up Keira, it almost didn't start. Had no idea why. I made it to Meghan's and learned that for the most part, Keira behaved herself and had a fun day. She even got to help feed Meghan's baby son Carter. It's all she talked about all evening. She brought home artwork and crafts she made. When I went to start my car from Meghan's, it REEALLY almost didn't start. At this point I realized something was botched so I decided to stop off at Auto Zone and test the battery. The dude there tested it and said it didn't have enough charge to even test it. He said if I took it out, they could charge it and see if that helped. I took it out (keep in mind its a million and five degrees out and I am now filthy) and brought it inside. He then told me it would take an hour to charge it. WTF I told him I have a hungry kid here and nowhere to go. I asked him to test the alternator, which he did and it tested out fine. I then decided to just buy a new battery. An hour and 100 bucks later, we were back on the road. We talked to mommy on the way home and then picked up McDonald's drive-thru for dinner. At this point it was 7:45 so we read some stories and she crashed. What a day. Anyone feel like inventing a beer delivery truck? I will be your first client...

Day 13

Officially exhausted. Dropped of the kid as usual and made it to work. Sterling was back today so it was back to business as usual. No locking myself out of the van or any other shenanigans. When I picked up Keira from preschool, I asked her how her day was including show and tell. She had brought a bouncy ball and a toy cell phone. She told me that she didn't get to participate in show and tell because she didn't listen to her teacher and got in trouble. I was disappointed in her and asked her teacher about it. Her teacher said she was told not to "do the chicken dance" with a friend and she said she no, and continued to dance. I guess actions have consequences, even at 4 years old. We went home and I changed. I recently had bought a new propane tank for my grill that wasn't working. Keira and I took it back to Walmart and swapped it. Only problem is the new one didn't work either. Apparently my BBQ grill is broken. Not happy about that at all. Not even a little bit. I grill 4 to 5 times a week. Guess I am on the hunt for a "BBQ Grill Repair Man". Anyone know of someone like that? Because I was cranky, I decided on leftovers for dinner. After dinner and dishes, we watched the first half of "Night At The Museum". Have I mentioned how fun it is that Keira likes movies now? (Other than princess themed cartoons that is) Finished off the night with a Popsicle and some stories.

Day 12

Today was interesting. I drove Mommy's car today because I was running behind and my car is low on gas. I got Keira to preschool (where she is still doing WONDERFUL at getting dropped off without latching onto my leg) and headed to work, only to realize that the keys to my work van were in the door of my car back at home. SONOFA... I drove home and got them and headed back. Thursdays I usually work a half day. (GS is trying to save labor during this economy crunch.) Second job of the day was to mount a TV that a client bought from the store as a display model. After getting the unit mounted, I turned it on only to find that the damn thing is broken. 45 mins and some back in forth with the store, I got to unmounted the TV and take it back. When I got there, I took the TV out of the back of the van and shut the door only to realize that the I just locked the keys inside. Another hour later, the locksmith showed up and got me back into the van. Made it back home around 3 and had about an hour to myself. It wasn't long but much needed. I went and picked Keira up and when we got home, we worked on writing her name in lower case letters. She is getting better every day and is so proud of herself. I made dinner while she watched "Sid The Science Kid" and then we video chatted with Mommy for about a half hour. When we were done, we played for a while longer and then finished off with the usual snack, stories, and songs.

Day 11

Today wasn't bad. Early wake up as usual. Dropped Keira off and made it to work on time. Nothing exciting at work. Got home and talked to Mommy. Took Keira to Chili's to dinner and had a good time. Got home and I gave her a bath. She decided to pour all her shampoo in her "Dora Castle Bubble Maker".  Let's just say we had a few bubbles. UGH... Finished off the night with some stories and some songs... Fairly mindless day. I will take them when I can get them.

Day 10

Back to Reality: Up and at it early again. 5:50am doesn't seem to be getting any easier. Keira and I were both sluggish today getting going. I dropped her off at preschool on my way to work as usual and she was a little crabby.  Since Sterling is on his honeymoon, I worked with my buddy Mike today. Other than the first job which turned into one of the biggest cluster-effs I have ever walked blindly into, pretty decent day. Working with Mike was fun and nothing was too much of a pain in the ass. I picked Keira up and she was in a better mood. That is until when we got home and the show she wanted to watch wasn't on TV and she had a meltdown. I put her in "thinking time" for about 1 minute while she was screaming bloody murder. I went to check on her and she had peed her pants all over the carpet. No idea what is going on with this whole pants peeing thing but I can honestly say that I am not a fan. Hoping these shenanigans end soon. I made dinner and after we finished eating, we played "memory" and then Candyland. I continue to run Candyland with an Iron Fist. I will challenge anyone to take my crown.... Talked to mommy for a bit and then I painted (or at least tried to paint) Keira's fingernails. Concluded the night with story time and a couple songs....

Day 9

Woke up at the crack of dawn (5am) to take Josh and Shmears to the airport. So early we had to wake Keira. I can't remember the last time I was up before her. After we dropped them off we came home and I made us breakfast. She watched some cartoons while I did laundry and cleaned up the house. We then took a trip to the tux shop to drop off my tux followed by a trip to the Home Depot. When we got home we both napped. After we woke up we went to the cemetery to visit with Connor. It's the sweetest thing in the world listening to her talk to him. Today she told him that she might have another brother or sister soon but she still loves him even in heaven. Then she asked me why I was sad and I broke down. She has a way of doing that to me. After we left we went to the grocery store to stock the fridge back up. When we got home I made dinner. After dinner Mommy called and we got to webcam. Mommy read her couple books from Alabama. Keira told me afterward how fun that was. Finally it was desert time. We made strawberry shortcake. Yum. Then Jammies, then bed. For both of us.

Day 8

Recovery Day: Got up early and went to breakfast with Keira, Josh and Shmears. Immediately followed was swimming lessons. Keira was super excited to show our guests how well she can swim. She continues to impress me with her skills. She truly gets better each week. After swimming we relaxed for a bit and then went to the park to play for about an hour or so. The weather was in the 80s for the first time this summer so we had to take advantage. We then invited ourselves over to my buddy Cameron's house where I helped him with some work around the house he needed that I had promised him probably six months ago. When we left there, we invited Cameron to join us back at our place so Keira could nap. (and boy did she need one!) The rest of us sat and watched a Blues Concert Bluray I have and just BSed with each other. After a couple hours I had to wake up Keira and we all went to dinner. By the time we got home we were beat and just hung out on the patio for a while before crashing.

Day 7

Started off today by taking Keira to her last Dance Class. She put on a little performance with her classmates in costumes. The story they performed was "Pinkalicious". It was about a little girl who ate too many cupcakes and woke up the next day with pink skin. She did great and it was super cute. After class, we went to pick up my friends Josh and Kieran. (Keira calls him "Smears") They flew in yesterday and stayed at the Aria the night last night. Josh came into town for my buddy Sterling's wedding and Kieran just tagged along so he could visit me. We headed back home to start getting ready for the wedding. I took Keira over to Aliante Casino/Hotel she she could get her hair done since she was a flower girl in the wedding. After that he headed to the Paiute Resort where the wedding took place so I could we could get dressed and take photos. (I was a groomsman). Once the photos were done, the ceremony began. Keira made a path with the petals from Brynn (the bride) and she did PERFECT. I was soo proud of her and she looked so beautiful. The ceremony was awesome and alot of fun. After the Ceremony came the reception. Keira stayed until about 8pm and then my buddy Josh took her home to go to bed. She was tired. (He was ready to leave by then too. Somebody drank a little too much the night before) I was able to stay until about 10 and it was a lot of fun. It was also nice to have a little break, even if it was only a couple hours. One week down, 4 more to go.

Day 6

Today was pretty nice. I didn't have to work. My good friend Sterling is getting married tomorrow and I am in the wedding as a groomsman.  Since the wedding rehearsal was this evening, we both took the day off. I took Keira to preschool a little late and when we arrived her class was outside playing. She was SUPER excited to get to go play. The kids here don't always get to play outside everyday due to the egg-frying heat we get to bake in the summer. Gotta love Vegas in the summertime. I went home and was able to relax for a bit and play some Xbox. I was happy to get the break... until the bulb on the TV shut itself off. It had been acting up for a few days now and after discussing it with Crystal, I made the decision to buy a new TV. When I arrived at Best Buy I ran into a fellow installer at the store who offered to help me move the downstairs tv up and put the new one in its place. I took him up on the offer and before I knew it, there was a 55" LED in my living room. Awesome. After that I washed my car and then headed over to pick up Keira. We then headed to the location of the wedding rehearsal where we practiced our roles for tomorrow. Keira will be a flower girl and as I stated before, I will be a groomsman. Keira did great in rehearsal and I was very proud of her. Afterward we all went to a pizza place for dinner and then headed home for the night. Tomorrow is the wedding. Cross your fingers.....

Day 5

Exhausted... This 5:50am business is starting to catch up to me. I am glad I am off for the next 4 days though I know I will also be very busy. Dropped Keira off at her usual time and I am happy to say that she has finally become a pro at being dropped off. Previously she would hug my leg or cry or both and not want me to leave. She has been doing great now for about 2 weeks straight. I think we owe a little credit to "Sid, The Science Kid" on PBS. Anyway, after work I was able to pick her up a little early today. I was surprised to find her wearing black sweat pants when I arrived. Apparently there was a pee accident during nap time. I was surprised to say the least. This hasn't happened in probably a year and never since she has been attending this new preschool. As for the sweat pants? Yeah, I took her "accident clothes" home to get her some new ones since it has got so hot and never brought the new ones. Oops. Oh-well. Live and learn. When we got home we played a "Memory" game she made at preschool. Each card had a number on it and you have to find the match. She beat me. My memory sucks. And she made sure I knew she beat me. Wonder where she gets that competitive edge from? Hmmm... Keira video chatted with mommy for a bit while I made dinner. Keira also wanted to pick dinner tonight. Bacon, Eggs, and Hashbrowns. Good choice! After dinner we played one more round of Memory and then caught up on Sesame Street. Finished off the night practicing writing "little a's" and then read stories and had a snack. Finally some bedtime songs and she was out within 5 mins. This all must be catching up with her too.

Day 4

Today was for the most part mellow. As I found myself at one point during the day counting how many days were left before Crystal comes home I came to a realization. I am not counting the days due to being unable to handle the additional responsibility, but simply because I miss my wife. Keira seems to be adjusting well even though she tells me at least once a day that she wishes mommy wasn't in Alabama. We are sticking to our routine which I think is helping. When I picked her up from preschool we were able to talk to Mommy for about 5 mins on the phone. We picked up some El Pollo Loco and headed home. After dinner I gave Keira a bath and then we finished "Big Daddy" which we had started a few days ago. I could tell she understood what was happening in the movie because she teared up during the sad parts. Definitely a sign she is growing up. After the movie it was story and snack time. This is the 3rd night in a row she has chose yogurt as her snack. I like the fact she chooses healthy snacks by choice most of the time. We finished off the night with a round of itsy bitsy spider in bed before I tucked her in. Stay tuned....

Day 3

Not too much to talk about today. Had to wake up at 5:50am to make sure I had enough time to get both myself and Keira ready before work. I obviously normally share Keira duties but now its up to me. Luckily Keira can dress herself now so its just basically getting her breakfast and then helping her with teeth brushing/hair doing. (If you can call what I do to her hair "doing her hair".) I try, let's put it that way. The kid has more hair than a Snuffaluffagus. Dropped her off at preschool and then headed to work. Work kicked my ass today. I won't get into details but by the time I was off I was both physically and mentally drained. I picked Keira up afterwards and made my simplest decision of the day which was dinner. Two words: Frozen. Pizza. Luckily Keira was all about it so we had pizza and fresh fruit. After dinner we worked on our spelling and writing lower case letters. Had a break in between to video chat with Mommy which was nice. We both really miss her. We finished our lower case letter writing and then had story time. I would say she is doing pretty good. Thank God for technology.....

Day 2

Today we started off the day with something special. Since I am off on Mondays, I don't have to get Keira to preschool until 9am when her "kindergarten tutoring" begins. I surprised her with a morning trip to the "Dinosaur Park". It's her favorite park but we haven't been there in forever due to Las Vegas being 194 degrees outside every day. Since it was early and still semi cool (90 degrees or so), we went there and played. After I dropped her off at preschool, I went Grocery Shopping. Its amazing how much cheaper groceries are when they are only for 2 instead of 3. It is also difficult to shop for 2 when you are used to shopping for 3. I was also able to get the laundry done and a few other things around the house I had been putting off. I picked Keira up early in the afternoon and we ran a couple of errands (Tilly's and Home Depot) and grabbed dinner at Gordon Biersch. That place is awesome. On our way home we stopped off at another park that we had never been too. When I pulled into the parking lot Keira was SOOO excited. We played for a half hour or so and we also Video Chatted with Mommy on my Cell Phone. It was nice for use to get to see her while we talked. When we got home, Keira had me sit on the couch while she performed a "Circus" for me. She was the ringmaster/clown and Cordy was the Zebra/Tiger. We worked on writing her name with lower case letters before story time followed by bedtime. Busy day.

Day 1

So I decided I am going to try and blog during this time that Crystal is gone and it is just the 2 of us. 5 weeks is a relatively short amount of time compared to what we are in store for come December but since this is my first attempt at being the soul provider for Keira, I thought maybe it would help me keep track of what is going on. There is a very high percentage chance that this will bore most of you so if it does, feel free not to read it. If anything I thought Crystal might enjoy reading this so here goes:

Day 1: Keira and I took Crystal to the airport at 5:30am this morning. After we dropped her off it wasn't but 3 minutes before Keira was sad saying she "missed mommy". I tried to cheer her up and had a little success but not much. We got home and had breakfast and then watched "Mega-mind". The movie was funny and Keira seemed to like it. After that we went to swimming lessons. She is getting sooooo good at swimming. She loves it and isn't scared of the water at all. After that we went to my buddy Cameron's house for more swimming and lunch. He's nephews are in town who are 3 and 5. Keira had a blast. Cam made home made Vanilla ice-cream using liquid nitrogen for dessert. Delish! Just finished our naps now and about to cook dinner followed by bathtime. Overall, I would say Day 1 was a success.