Getting social in the comfort of your own home!

As the school year starts to get into swing, Andy's House O' Blog is happy to share with you some simple steps on how to use (free) social tools to keep everyone on the same page.  In our household, we all have Google accounts, mobile devices and different schedules.  So for the kids to know when Mom is working, if I'm out of town or even worse, when I'm cooking dinner because Mom is working late, it's all readily available.  So if you haven't thought about this, it can work better then the bulletin board in the kitchen.  Here's how we started off:

• Everyone in the house has a Gmail account.  Say what you want about the Internet giant, but I do like Google for many things.  Including hosting my blogs and housing images.
• Once you have a Gmail account, you also have a Google Calendar. 
• In your Google Calendar, go into the Calendar settings, select the Calendars tab and click on the Shared: Edit settings option, and start adding other family members via their email addresses.  They will get a message saying that your calendar is shared and any actions for them to take.
• You can also set the level of access to your calendar.  If you want them to only see your info or see and edit, select how you want it to be.
• Now MAKE them go in and put in their schedule information.  When their classes are, when they have a game they want to go to, when their work schedule is, etc.
• Now that you are able to see everyone's schedules, get it on to your mobile devices.  BlackBerry, iOS and Android all have ways to sync calendar data down to handhelds.  USE IT.  Get the kids to use it.
• If you want to have it outside of the browser format, download Thunderbird and Lightning.  Two great FREE apps that allow to sync multiple calendars to a workstation.
• Another added plus for the Lotus crowd is that you can add your Google calendar data to your Notes calendar.  A big feature they put in a while ago and works great!  (Just be careful about setting the "view this calendar when offline or on a mobile device",  Did that once and took a while to clean up.  Read about it here.
• Lastly, if you rely on someone else to assist with the transportation of your kids, share the calendars with them!  (Thanks, Mom!!!)

This is just an example.  I know that there are plenty of other tools out there to keep family's in touch.  Still, the best way to keep in touch and grounded with your kids is to share a meal with them.  Do it often, together as a family.  Call me old fashioned, but it works.  So get social and keep your family in line ;-)

Yes, I should be working on my Lotusphere Idol! slides..

But I had to go out and film the kids attempt to sled down our somewhat hill in the backyard.

I was honored to receive an email yesterday saying that my abstract for Lotusphere Idol! has been accepted! Then, the anxiety set it. So if you have time on Tuesday, January 20, at 3 PM in the Dolphin Hotel Southern Hemisphere III, stop by and cheer me and the other contestants on! From what I've heard, it should be a good time!

Monday, December 14, 1998

Right about now 10 years ago, Denise, Alex and myself were sitting in a court room in Tuscarawas County before a judge. Molly was there too, but she was in the "oven" cooking. We were at the end of a several month process that involved social workers, unanswered registered letters and other documentation to our lawyer. The judge entered the court room, banged the gavel and it began. Not knowing what to expect, our attorney rose, I was sworn in and a barrage of questions was fired off at me in rapid succession. (He was an ex-Marine Corp officer, and when he spoke, he did it with purpose and right to the point) "Are you Andrew Donaldson?", "Is your occupation..?", "Do you live at...?", "Is it your intention to adopt Alex?"
Yes.
I knew falling in love with Denise and marrying her meant that without question Alex was part of the package. I fell in love with that kid, too. And I wanted him to not only be my son, but to share my name. Denise never had any hesitation on this either. We were a family and wanted it that way without any question ever. After our attorney was done with his barrage of questions, the judge read the report from the social workers saying that they felt that this was a good thing as well. The judge addressed Alex and asked him if he wanted to be adopted by me, and he said yes. With that, the judge so ordered it, signed the order, banged the gavel and it was complete. For the first time officially, I was a Dad. When it was all said and done, it was about 15 minutes in the court room. The judge then wanted our first "official" family picture and she wanted to be in it too.
Now 10 years later, Alex stands taller then his mother and me. At 16, he is quickly becoming a man and like any teenager, has come to not like some of the things I do or make him do. I guess I'm doing my job right then.
I love you, Alex. And I'm proud to be your Dad.

T-minus two weeks and counting

So with two weeks left until the start of the school year, Molly has decided that she wanted to show off her new outfit for the first day of school. The retro 80's look. Retro. 80's. Man, I feel old.

Photography FAIL

What happens when you ask your teenage son to take a picture of you and your wife?

(Click to enlarge)

You find out afterwards that he didn't care at all about framing the picture to include his parents. No, he just wanted to make sure that he got the cute blonde waitress in the picture.

That's my boy.

16

Here we go again, another birthday for one of the offspring. But it's not just any birthday. Today my son turns 16. 16-years-old. Damn, do I feel old. It really doesn't seem all that long ago that he was riding on my shoulders at Sea World, (made me think of that as we drove by the old Sea World today), starting preschool or even kindergarten for that matter. Moving on through grade school, then middle school and now the dreaded high school years. All zipping by way too fast. Now, he's at the magical time somewhere between boy and man trying to figure out his place on this hunk of rock.

Don't worry kid, many of us much older then you are still trying to figure that out too. Just know that your Mom and I love you and are proud to have a kid as great as you are.

But remember, like Homer always says, "When you're 18, you're out the door" ;-)

What happens when you get bored on vacation

You start shaving things. Let's hope I find more things to keep me occupied. My legs will be a real pain to do.

Coming Sunday to a living room near me....

Had to use the economic stimulus for something. Don't want to let the President down ya know. We played the 360 version at Best Buy tonight and loved it, so we decided to go ahead and pre-buy us a copy over at the game store. I don't know who is more excited. The kids or Denise and I. Anyways, it will be fun because it's something that we can all do together. I have a feeling we are going to fighting over the drums though. I was rockin' them to Detroit Rock City. But alas, I am no Peter Criss. Review will follow next week I am sure.

Okay, I'm pretty proud of myself

I have to say that I'm pretty proud of myself this evening. Since it was Molly's birthday today I took the day off of work to spend it with her. Unfortunately, Denise had to work all day so I wanted to make it as fun of a day as possible for her.
We started off by picking up her friend and along with Alex, we all enjoyed a good old fashion Taco Bell gastric experience. After that, it was off to Laser Quest. The first game was great because it was just the four of us in the arena. By the time we were ready to start the second game, the place had filled up with a bunch of folks and it made for an interesting time. We all stuck together and fought our way to holding two different towers by ourselves.
And to top off the day, I was able to make this majestic chocolate cake with creamy chocolate fudge frosting. Now all we have to do is wait for Denise to get home so we can dig into the thing! I hope it's soon. Molly is looking at the cake like a pit bull at a steak. This could get ugly.
Hurry home wife, we need you.

Nine Years and a lot of grey hair later...

Nine years and an hour or so ago, this picture was taken.

She was a wee moose. Born healthy and loved to be held and cuddled. I couldn't believe that Denise and I could be involved with making something so beautiful.





Now, she is growing into an independent, stubborn and bull-headed young lady. Hence, all the grey that you now see adorning the hair on my head and also the facial area.

I wouldn't have it any other way.


Happy Birthday, Squirt.
Your old man loves ya.

My son, the warrior

It's always been a dream of mine to have my son, Alex, enjoy one of my favorite hobbies. And today, that dream has come true.
Alex is a peaceful soul, plain and simple. The boy doesn't have a mean bone in his body nor has he ever wanted to do harm upon someone else. In the past I've tried to get him interested in going paintballing, but it was never something that really peaked his interest. I think it may have been the thought of chasing after someone and shooting at them with a paintgun knowing that it may hurt them. He's seen all my welts and black and blue marks over the years courtesy of Joel, Scott, Dan, Kevin..some more from Joel, and countless others. But when I told him we were going to have a game up at our friend Joel's farm, he decided that he was going to give it a try. He did, and he loved it.
So like a group of tribal elders, we took my eldest into the woods for his initiation into manhood. Outfitted with my trusty Piranha and some heavy weight "Alpine-flage", (this stuff is pretty thick so if he got hit, it wouldn't hurt as much.)
The setup was Alex and I against everyone else. Out gunned and out matched. But of course we, "The Elders", all talked about it before hand and the plan was to shoot around Alex giving him a chance to get use to how this whole thing works and to help build his confidence! Needless to say in the end we were victorious. He shot out the entire opposing team! The next game was a one on one between me and the boy with everyone else acting in an "advisory" capacity. His job was to hunt me down and take me out. I was armed with only a 12 shot semi-auto pistol and had hoped that we could stretch this out a little bit. I dug into some cover and waited for Alex to come out into a clearing. I was going to fire one or two shots off to his side in hopes that he would duck for cover and I could move to another position and keep the game alive for a little bit. But the amazing thing is, HE DIDN'T BACK DOWN! Next thing I know, I'm shot twice. Once in my gut and once in my backside. The kids a natural!
In the end, I could tell that he felt pretty good about today exploits. One of his first comments about the day was that he was planning on telling a girl he knows all about how he shot out his Dad at paintball. Yes dear reader, he understands things better now. But he still gets tired of me saying, "Pain is temporary, glory last forever and chicks dig scars."
I love that kid.

Say hello to Patrick

Nephew #4 was born last night at 19:59.

8lbs., 14 oz., 21" long.

Welcome to the world, Patrick!

Trixie VS Evil Corporate America

In preparation for tonights Battlestar Galactica season premier watch party at the house, my wonderful wife Denise, (AKA Trixie), went to the Wal Mart to stock up on a few things. You see, going to Wal Mart here in redneck-Americana land can either be a peaceful event or downright torture.
This time it was the latter for our heroine. Here is how it all played out in her latest blog entry entitled: "From now on, I will no longer go anywhere without make-up ever again. EVER!"

Autism has a new voice

I was catching up on my Twitters from over the weekend and noticed one that was posted by Chris Miller about an Autistic girl that uses her computer to communicate with her family. That just blew my mind because there has been many times that I know Alex is trying really hard to say how he feels inside about something but can't always get it out. Up until a couple of years ago I would often look at him and could almost see two people. The Alex I see on the surface and then the one hidden deep down below attempting to be heard, screaming to get out like in some strange sci-fi flick. He's gotten much better over the years, usually giving me a "smart aleck" response when we are talking, but I've learned thats how he communicates. Anyways, it was just really great to see another child finding their voice in the prison of Autism, even if its with the help of a computer.
Click here to read about and watch the ABC News video.

Now that's what I'm talkin about!

Okay. I have had not just a good day, but a great frakin' day! First, we got to sleep in! Of course, anything past 6 AM is sleeping in. After getting to watch a little bit of cartoons, we decided that we were going to have a family "no one is sick, injured or otherwise out of commission so we are getting out of the house" fun day. Took the kids out to lunch, went bowling, did some shopping and otherwise just got out of the house and had us some fun. It was the kind of day we've been waiting on around here. Just get out and play! The kids had a great time as well as us. And after all that we made it back home just in time to catch the Budweiser Shootout. The first official NASCAR event of the year. Wow! What a race! Dale Earnhardt Jr won the race just nudging past Tony Stewart. Jr. really benefited from his Hendrick team watching his back. And if tonight is an indication of next weeks running of the Daytona 500, we're in for one hell of a race.
So, with the day drawing to a close and a thunderstorm with snow falling firing up along the massive cold front moving through the area, I think I'll call it a day.
(Seriously. Thunder, lighting, snow and it's suppose to be 18 degrees tomorrow. Weird)

I am the old man

Okay. I'm 38 fraking years old. Being 15 and having my parents driving me and a date to a school dance does not seem all that long ago. Yet, now I am the one driving my 15 year old son and his date to a school dance. But there I was tonight, taking them to the dance and then waiting in the parking lot of the school at 10:30 waiting for the dance to end so I could take them home. Okay, it probably doesn't help listening to Sirius 8, "The Big 80's" almost exclusively on the satellite radio, (when I'm not listening to Howard or Bubba), so at least a part of me can still live in my teenage years of the 80's. It just doesn't seem all that long ago!
But I guess it is. I am now the "old man" doing the chauffeur duty. But this was the silver lining to an otherwise crummy week of food poisoning, emergency rooms and rescheduled early flights home from destinations far away. This was Alex's first date and I think they had fun.

My little trooper

Well, I'm back home from Orlando and glad to see that my little darlin is doing okay. She's pretty sore and eating food...very slowly. Everything has to be chopped up into little piece and eaten with the back teeth only. So far, so good.

A personal note from the Donaldson Family. To everyone out there that either came up to me at Lotusphere or had sent me an email to say that Molly was in their thoughts and prayers, thank you. Words cannot express just what that means to us. Been a crazy week, but it's good to know a lot of folks got our back.

Thank you.

And that's my que...

This week two of my biggest fears with regards to business travel hit back to back. Me getting sick on the road and something happening to my family while I'm on the road. If you've been following the old "House O' Blog" this week looking for a plethora of Lotusphere information you know that we've been sidetracked by the food poisoning saga. Now the other shoe dropped.
Today at school, Molly was knocked down and fell into a bookcase hitting it with her front teeth causing the bone that those teeth are attached to to break. I got the phone call from Denise that started with "Before I say anything else, I want you to know that everyone is okay..." Never a good way to start a conversation. She was telling me that Molly had to go in for oral surgery to put in a brace and wire it up so that bone would reattach. She made it through the surgery like a trooper, but as of a little while ago she is in a lot of pain and just plain miserable.
So, I'm on a plane home a day earlier. Flights out at noon tomorrow, so I won't be hitting any sessions tomorrow. Not much I can do there, except be there. But that is all that really matters.

Adios Lotusphere. Let's try this again next year.

So Number 1 Son has his first date!

It appears that my son Alex has asked a girl to the winter homecoming dance and she said yes! When I asked Alex about it and if he was excited he looked at me with his crooked smile and said "Zang!". With thumbs up and all. I busted a gut laughing.

You see, one of his Christmas gifts was the Wayne's World two pack of movies. He has pretty much been watching them non-stop since and loves them. He'll quote such things as "No Stairway! Denied", and the like. It's always funny when your kids start using pop culture references from your own years gone by. It's even funnier that the first Wayne's World film came out there year Alex was born. I know, I made you feel old now, didn't I? When you have a teenager in the house, there are many times you start to feel old.

I love that kid.

Oh well, back to packing for Lotusphere.

The corruption of my wife is now complete!

She's started her own blog!