New Template...

Hey there friends. I think I need a new template. I'm tired of seeing a whole bunch of emptiness on the left side of my blog. Come to think of it, it's on the right side too... I have like an inch or so of empty space that can be utilized. I like the format that I have, but I just don't like that I'm not maximizing the space. If there was a way where I can expand the post space so that it covered that area, I would be happy. But if not, guess I'll be out template hunting real soon. Hopefully, I'll be able to find something that suits me well. Later.

Middle Child Syndrome?

Hey there. I'm a little more than steamed right now. As my wife was washing the dishes, she uncovered a whole bowl's worth of cereal hanging out in the sink. We called in the kids (our two oldest had cereal) and asked them who was the one that threw it in the sink. Must've been the ghost of the house because they said it wasn't them. If there is anything that really gets to us, it's liars. We've explained many times to our kids that we will not tolerate lying in the house. Even after we made it very clear that if no one fessed up, they would both get in trouble. Still no one confessed. It wasn't until I said that the person that confesses will NOT get in trouble. That's when our middle child confessed and said it was her.

Why does she continue to lie to us? We've already told her countless times that lying just makes things worse and she is making it very difficult for us to believe her anymore. She's been on this streak of lying that we're beginning to feel that no matter what the punishment is, it's just not sinking in. I threatened her with boot camp, she just turned 7, and I did it as a bluff, but now I feel like maybe that's the way to go. It's pretty damn obvious that we're not getting through to her and maybe some tough love will go a long ways. I just don't know where to turn right now. We instill good morals and ethics and for the most part, they listen and follow the rules, but I just don't know what her deal is lately that she's been the rule breaker of the house. She even went as far as STEALING gum from her grandpa's drawer and said it wasn't her... I'm not going to be raising a criminal and we need to find a solution to this "mean" streak now before it really gets out of hand...

My wife is online right now looking through articles to see what other parents are doing. She came in here and just told me that some articles mentioned that this seems to happen to kids in the first grade. Our boy, the oldest, had his incident with lying. I gave him the punishment of his life and that was the last of that. Come to think of it, I think that was about the same age that she's in now... I don't know, we're just hoping that's it's a phase and it will soon pass.

Until then, later.

A Time to Reflect

Hey there. Tomorrow is July the 3rd. Tomorrow is our anniversary. My wife and I will be celebrating our 4th year of marriage. She has been a godsend to me. In a time where my life was nothing but chaos, she came into my life and gave me a reason to fight on. Because of this, I'll always refer to her as my angel.

You know, she didn't have to do the things that she did for me. When we met, I had two small kids and I was kicking my ex-girlfriend out of my place, with more than enough resistance from the ex... and she didn't need to take on that burden. But she did, and because of it, I know that she loves me. At the tender age of 19, she took me in, along with all my "baggage". When all others would have ran at the thought of having to raise kids at that age, she stood by me. Even after all the shit that we went through, she was there, and became the loving mother and wife that our family needed. She stood by her man and there is nothing more that a man can ask for.

She just sent me an Email wanting to legally adopt the kids. Never occurred to us that it should be done. I'm telling you, this woman is the woman of my dreams.

Tomorrow is our anniversary... and I'm grateful that I'll be spending it with the one was meant for me. You are the world to me. Thank you, babe.

Welcome to SocialSpark

Hey there friends. I've recently joined a great, new online community. Not only can you meet fellow bloggers, but you can only register your blog so that you can accept opportunities to review and score some cash. SocialSpark has a marketplace where a member is free to browse hundreds of opportunities to make a few bucks. You do have to abide by the code of ethics, which shouldn't be a problem to all us honest bloggers. The 4 rules of ethics are:

-100% Audit-able In-Post Disclosure
-100% Transparency
-100% Real Opinions
-100% Search Engine Friendly

It also has the community section where you are free to roam and browse other blogs. After checking out the profile or blog, you can then give the member a "prop" or a "drop", the equivalent of a thumbs up or a thumbs down, to rate their blog. You can add several blogs, giving each one their own rating. I am also please with the tracking tools that are provided. Just install the ITK tool code on your site, and SocialSpark will keep track of your blog's daily and monthly average pageviews and visitors. It will also keep track of your RealRank and Alexa Rank, providing you with a visuals in the form of a graph for RealRank, Alexa Rank, Pageviews, and visitors for your site. Check it out below.



Also, check out my profile, Metallman, so that you can get a feel for the layout. As you can see, you can have a fav 9 friends list, recent activity in the community, as well as comments, feed back, and your latest blog post. The only thing tha is reqiured is a blog that has been active for at least 90 days. I don't have a problem with that since I see the reason behind that logic. You want to be able to accept only those people that are committed to their blogs and their communities and if they don't last 90 days, then they definitely don't belong.

SocialSpark See you there.

June Blogs of the Month

Hey there friends. The results are in the we have 4 new blogs in the top 5 this month. Links and images are up so check em out when you get a chance. Remember, my top 5 droppers will have a link on this blog for the whole month and any ties will be determined by the number of comments left. Thanks to all that have dropped by and hopefully your blog will have a link here next time. I will be announcing the July winners on the 31st so stay tuned.

You know what, I'll change it up a bit. Starting with this month's winners, I will also grant 100 EC credits to the top 5. Congrats guys.

Until then, later!

The Chosen One

Hey there. I stole this off of Renna's page. Her blog is the third one from my Blogs of the Month. I thought it was hilarious and I just had to share it. Later.