Dad Therapy

Seven Years and Six Moves Later

 
In case you haven't been following along, this is the third post in a series I’ve penned that are sponsored by Blue Shield of California. They wanted to hear stories from personal bloggers about moments in life that were unpredictable and turned out for the better even if they seemed to be anything but good to begin with.

I've already talked about nannies and our housing adventures but I was at a loss with what to write for a third.

That’s why I need to preface this by saying I never thought moving cross-country to move in with my girlfriend would turn out badly, I just didn’t know how truly life altering such a commitment would be.

Have You Listened to Them Crooked Vultures, New Fang Yet? Click here.

It may be heresy, but I think I am looking forward to the Them Crooked Vultures album coming out Nov. 17 than I was for Pearl Jam. OK, maybe after I heard the Pearl Jam record...but still, there is a lot to salivate over in the teaming of Dave Grohl, Josh Homme and John Paul Jones. "New Fang" is the first single released today and embedded above via YouTube and there is a LOT of Led Zeppelin influence here. Other songs I've heard snippets of, have a harder, Queens of the Stone Age bent. Regardless, get here Nov. 17 get here!

Dizzying Diaper Disposal

I've never had a viral video on the site before but if anything related to my family was to take the web by storm it would be Carter's newest love, throwing out his little sister's diapers. We've never seen the kid this excited and he's like this EVERY TIME.

After he repeated the ritual for a second time Courtney said "You have to videotape this." So here it is. We've been meaning to get a second diaper pale since moving in but now we really don't see the need.

Boss Monster Zinfandel: Wine Woot Review

Illinois has quite a few blue laws but it thankfully allows for receiving wine through the mail. Enter Wine Woot, a mild obsession Ive had for the past few years. I'm no wino that's for sure, but both Courtney and I enjoy a nice glass of wine when the kids go down for the night. Everything we buy we pretty much drink too. No wine cellar here. I have kept some bottles for about a year, but that's about it.

The latest order was a six pack of Boss Monster, a zinfandel that Woot packages as it's own. It arrived today and I just popped it open as Monday Night Football kicked off and it's pretty great for a ten dollar bottle.

It's ultra dry. Like Gobi desert dry. And it's not a very complex either. I'm not even sure if it'd pair that well with a steak or lamb. So why is it so good? Because it drinks easily on its own...like when you put the kids to sleep.

A photo of the whimsical back label is below along with my dutiful FTC disclosure of paying for this great wine.

Obligatory Pumpkin Patch Photo

 
Here’s Carter at a “Fall Festival” type farm that we visited Saturday, so there wasn’t a real patch of pumpkins anywhere, just stacks of them for sale. Regardless, they serve as the backdrop here. Another awesome photo taken by Mommy Leibovitz.

Dads, Would You Drive a Lincoln MKT?

Here’s a new one for the blog. I’m asking all the dads out there if they would be caught dead driving the new Lincoln crossover called the MKT. I’m testing it this week for a full review on Cars.com and would like to include real-world dad feedback on what they think of the looks.

I don’t want to influence anyone, but me, I like it.

Now it isn’t cheap, it starts at $44,200 but a new Lincoln Navigator SUV starts well over $50,000.

My tester also has a turbocharged V-6 engine which is pretty fast. For more pictures check out this post but I want to hear gut reactions in the comments below. Feel free to blog about it yourself too or tweet it, facebook it etc. Just let me know where I can see the feedback. Thanks.

New & Vintage Music Monday: The Dead Weather, Tank Girl

The Dead Weather, Hang You From The Heavens

When The White Stripes were all over the radio I loathed them. I thought their songs were repetitive and Jack White got way too much credit for being a good songwriter. However, I love his “side projects” like the Raconteurs. His latest, The Dead Weather – uh, using the word “the” is getting old – is another winner. It’s a bit darker and moodier than the Raconteurs, with a nice mix of White’s vocals and female vocals from Alison Mosshart of the Kills. This is the one song that kind of encapsulates what the band’s sound is.

Joan Jett/Paul Westerberg, Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)

Playing a 120 GB iPod on shuffle reveals a lot of things about your music collection. For me, the number one oddity is that I have a lot of albums I wouldn’t have spent my own money on because overall they’re not that great, but have a few gems hidden on them. That’s where this track from the Tank Girl soundtrack (probably the best music soundtrack when compared to the crappyness of the movie it was attached to ever) and this duet with Joan Jett and Paul Westerberg. It’s a lot of fun, much like the other songs on the soundtrack. If you can find it somewhere, it’s likely cheap, I’d say buy it.

Carter's New Word Makes a Dad Proud

So, if you know me or have read this blog at all you probably know I am a football nut. And if you didn’t, you know now. That’s why I’m shocked I forgot to blog about this earlier, because last week we turned on the TV and Sunday Ticket, the green field with white numbers came up and Carter turned his head and said “Football!” with pure glee and a big smile.

Carter still has a limited vocabulary that’s growing every day, but we’re still surprised when we hear a new word for the first time. And when the word is football, I mean come on, that’s a big moment.

The Official Dad Therapy FTC Disclosure with Bonus Rant

Earlier this week the FTC released new guidelines for the blogosphere. You can download a PDF here. 

Every blog must now disclose whether or not a product they review was given to them by the manufacturer to test and keep. Getting free product to review is a common practice in all media as I was a video game and music critic for a newspaper I got to keep everything I reviewed. It was a form of payment because guess what? Journalists make diddly squat.

However, if I still wrote for a newspaper I'd be exempt from the new rules because the FTC views them as legitimate publications that police themselves with internal ethics, which is true from my experience.

Because this site is partially about me testing out stuff that keeps dads sane including gadgets, music, games and cars it's probably beyond prudent that I follow these guidelines.

So, below is the official policy of the Dad Therapy blog regarding and then my rant on the FTC rules. Here's a hint; it's not what you think.

Is A Good Nanny Hard To Find?

 
One of the things we worried about after Carter was born was child care. I'm not sure if this is the first thing we were scared of, because I constantly freaked out about every aspect of fatherhood, but I know it weighed on Courtney’s mind.

Now that we've found a terrific new nanny for both kids, I'll tell you about how lucky we've truly been in this department after our third nanny search in two years.