#AtoZChallenge: F is for Finally, he’s writing again (Thanks Cheryl Strayed!)

So, it’s been a minute.

And by a minute, I mean a month. Holy hell – how did April get outta here so fast? Everyone’s wrapped up their #AtoZChallenge, and I’m still stretching my hamstrings. Yes, I’m on the letter F. And there’s plenty to post about.

I have a guest post from Madison, even, that she sent me as a PDF and why do post-millennials do things so differently than we do?

I also have a guest post from Lauren Mayhew that you’re going to love. And the rest of my posts about looking for my next job. I got plenty of words: What I don’t have is plenty of space in the day to write such things.

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#AtoZChallenge: E is for is he EVER going to catch up?

It’s never too late to be thankful, right?

I’ve tried to tie my weekly Go Ask Daddy posts to the Friday gratitude attitude going around the blogging world. The combination ranks higher than, say, those KFC-Taco Bell duos you find sometimes out and about.

It’s been a while since I’ve sat down to jot the good stuff in my notebook, though.

I’ve been thankful for, you know, a job that offers benefits and enough dough to get my kids off free lunch. This feels like the American dream to me. But I want to make this list not just about that because I’m almost kind of tired of writing about it.

Who we’d pick to take our place, in 6 words

My actual shelf with getting-ready stuff. The badge has since been retired. The Star Wars figures never will be.

It’s not easy to be me.

It’s hella fun, as the kids used to say. (Some kids. Somewhere.) So, when I shot out the prompt for this month’s 6 Words post (which actually went out in 2017, but it’s taken me a while to post), it wasn’t easy to come up with an answer.

Every month, I ask friends, bloggers, strangers and strange blogger friends a question that they will answer in exactly six words.

Ernest Hemingway inspired it when he asserted that any story could be told in six words. The prompt for this month: If you had to pick someone to be you for a day, who would you want it to be, and why?

Guest post: Emily(2) Fundraising for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

It’s like, still cold in the Carolinas.

Finding the time to blog lately hasn’t been easy.

Sometimes, you have to rely on friends to pick up the slack. I’d intended to publish a #GirlsRock interview with Emily Meintzer, whose sister plays on Camdyn’s team at Lake Norman Soccer Club.

Emily and I have become sideline friends, watching her sister and my daughter mixing it up on the soccer pitch.

Today, I’m featuring a cause Emily and her friend, Emily, are working to raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Many of you know my father died nearly 18 years ago of leukemia.

Go Ask Daddy about education, aviation, and chocolatization

C’mon. Christmas can last all year. Especially when you take a boatload of Christmas-themed photos for your blog and then don’t write for a month. Happy Holidays, y’all.

I’m grateful for dreams.

No, not the ones with January Jones and bacon cheeseburgers, although those are also everything. I’m grateful for my kids’ dreams, the ones of becoming a vet tech or playing college soccer or getting a kickass role in the school play.

Hayden has a chance to play at the next level and is fortunate enough to have choices.

We visited Wingate University today and I think there were some love sparks. They invited her to an ID camp this summer. She’d stay on campus for several days and be immersed in college life there.

Go Ask Daddy about penalties, pucks and pills

Yeah, I know it’s past Christmas. But do Baby Jesus and camels really ever go out of style? This stormtrooper just discovered this isn’t the camel they’re looking for. Move along.

It was *such* a great interview.

I am hoping just as hard as I do about the Colorado Rockies or free pizza or running into Hope Solo in the self-checkout at the Harris-Teeter in South Park. (I will come up with something witty to say. I just know it.)

I’m grateful for the chance to interview at this awesome company and I have some good news to share soon about it.

After my 10 things to be grateful for, I’ll answer some of my daughters’ random questions. Three deal with sports, which is a monumental surprise. One could have been a blog post on its own, and the last one is one of those, “huh, so that’s why” sort of deals.

Coach Daddy Review: The Cupcake Rack

 

We planned a cupcake party.

It was opening weekend of the NFL playoffs. A Saturday devoted to watching the Titans vs. Chiefs, then the Falcons vs. Rams turned into a day of peek-ins to each game whenever we could. Soccer matches and toting kids about cut into viewing time.

Sunday felt much the same – only the games had changed.

And by the time I’d finished a themed dinner for the main event of the day – the hometown Carolina Panthers matchup against hated rival New Orleans Saints – both games were in the books. And it wasn’t a good look for the home team.

Go Ask Daddy about thrills, bling and perils to the family jewels

You know how some things go really well together?

Like, my mouth and enchiladas, for instance. (Why must it always be about food?) Every Friday, I write the Go Ask Daddy post. It’s five questions, picked at random, from a list of nearly 300 that my girls ask through the course of a day.

Lots of my blog friends write their gratitude posts on Fridays.

I’m grateful, too. Just because I spend the day answering questions about Jimmy Hendrix, finances and firefighters, it doesn’t mean I’m not eternally grateful for lots of stuff. In fact, I’ve started a gratitude journal, and it’s got stuff in it.

Dads: Don’t let a big cheesy burger get the best of you

A T-rex is mighty, yes. Sometimes it pays not to take the biggest bite of your Jurassic loved ones.

I hate when I’m boorish.

It doesn’t happen often. But when it does … I mean, it’s lowkey. Well, okay. Not lowkey. But not extra, as the kids would say. Somewhere between lowkey and extra. Yes, it’s come to this. (But definitely closer to lowkey than extra.)

The funny thing – and it wasn’t really funny at the time – was that it all happened because of juicy Lucy cheeseburgers.

Juicy Lucies are Minnesota delights. Manna of Heaven. They’re huge burgers with a treasure trove of cheese inside. I made one for everyone, the biggest – the juiciest, cooked a beautiful shade of medium rare – for myself. So go the benefits of a dad with a skillet.

Go Ask Daddy about quarterback uncertainty, poultry designations and what to bury in the ground for posterity

The Broncos might have missed the playoffs, but Von Miller is still the best. (Plus, we’ll get a good draft pick.)

Jersey numbers mean a lot to me.

I can see a number on a back and think immediately and randomly of favorite players, from teams I’ve loved or coached or both, who wore that number. It’s especially common when the Denver Broncos wear their orange jerseys.

I see 80 and think of Haven Moses, of Joe Dudek when I see 32 and, at seeing 43, remember Steve Foley.

Those who wear a number belong to the team in the moment. There were 33s, 29s, and 5s before them, and after they’re gone, someone else will suit up in that number. While you’re in our colors you’re loved; after you’ve moved on, you’re remembered.