this week i'm going to be be doing something a little different. the more astute of you may have noticed that i have let this year's monthly gallery section lapse, by quite a bit. there have been times in the past where i've missed a month or two but could dig out without much issue. this year, i have fallen 8 months behind which will require a bit more to recover.

first, in explanation of the arrears, in January my company won a contract that we kinda thought we weren't going to win. the good side was this was a huge get for our small and new company. the bad side is this meant a whole lot of work for our small and new company. this is why the last gallery post happened in February.

so i have made a plan to mend this motley fence by posting two long-form pieces. the first is about family pets and the second is about family lessons. this week will be a five-part story about our experience fostering dogs.

Part 1 - Mom hates dogs.

first off, sorry for dropping out like that. i do believe it is the first time i have dissapeared for that long, sans explanation in the fourteen year existence of this site, but, well, you know, life.

the lapse began after i had one of my most tumultuous weeks i can remember. there were dramatically high highs which the universe followed up with unexpectedly low lows. by week's end i was a bit of a spent mess. everything is back to great though. it just took a minute to let my mind cut it all down into consumable, bite-sized chunks. minutes up. chunks swallowed. moving forward. trending upward.

if you're wanting examples, i won't bore you with the lows, as who wants to document or read about those, but will share a sample high. on may 25 i drove bella across town to attend a roller-skating party. whenever bella wants to get somewhere on time she taps her time-obsessed father who attempts to respect other peoples' time as much as his own. when we pulled into the lot i commented on how empty it appeared. after checking the invite in her lap bella smiled at me uncomfortably and confessed that she may have gotten the time wrong and we were an hour early. now this may seem minor to some but sixty mid-day, beautiful-weathered weekend minutes to a guy who likes distance bike riding and reading on the porch is like four hours any other time of the week. no stranger to my ticks, my daughter knew this was no minor mis-read. i breathed deeply and circled us out of the barren lot at a clip a police car would have noticed. wanting to avoid the busy avenue that brought us here i turned us deeper into the neighborhoods and we unhurriedly glided our way through the tree-lined streets pointing out houses and yards we found interesting.

after passing a sprawling church complex i made a u-turn and pulled into its lot. i drove to the dead-center of the large, carless, blacktop and turned off the car.

BELLA
what are you doing?

TROY
you said you wanted to learn how to drive.

BELLA
what? like now?

TROY
yeah, why not do something worthwhile with this unexpected free-time.

BELLA
oh my god! oh my god! yes. ok.

i then taught my thirteen year old (just turned) how to drive a stick-shift ... in seven minutes. the brief experience, twenty minutes end to end, culminated with bella driving figure eights in a church parking lot. my 91 bmw softly and slowly sailing across the smooth pavement, windows down, sunroof open and the biggest smile possible stretched across my fearless daughter's sunlit face. after we traded seats and headed back to the skating rink i told her that she, at thirteen, could do what a great number of adults could not, and she should feel like a bad-ass because of it. her beaming face and quaking frame revealed that she did.

so these are the sorts of things (e.g. the highs at least) i'm experiencing and as long as i'm the one charged with both having and documenting the happenings, the math will quickly show there are just not enough hours in the day. but i don't want to become that guy who just appears every now and again, and only when it is convenient for him and never for you (e.g. like that fair-weather college pal who is only hangs out between love interests) so i've given some thought to how i can continue to nurture this website (and our relationship) and still lead my new hurly-burly life. here's what i've come up with. if you look in on monday and there is no posting, there will be no content all week. but if you look in on monday and there is a post, then there will be a post every day of the week. i think in a relationship like this there needs to be some sort of understood expectation.

of course the thought of just stopping rolls off my mind's ticker-tape machine every now again but for personal reasons i wish to continue recording my family's moments and i have learned this vehicle is an imperative part of that commitment. for those of you that enjoy reading along, you incent me to pull my act together. without you, it's a very hard affair so i appreciate your on-going participation more than you understand.

my two core objectives with this site are:
1. to continue chronicling the funny, sad, curious, and note-worthy moments that occur in my home full of children.
2. to see that what i document is thoughtful, edited, and not being done for the wrong reasons (which has surely happened from time to time in the past).

most important to me is that i don't create an expectation that forces me to produce content against a schedule i can't maintain, well at least maintain and try to keep the content on point and thoughtful. because i find when we let such standards go, pride in the product being produced is not far behind.

stepping away again. be back on tuesday, march 25th.

it's mancation week here at dearmitt.com, thus the offices will be shuttered for the week.

talk at ya next week.

best.

t

the last day of school, we hosted a group of kids for a celebration dinner and ice cream. while eating on the front porch someone observed that of all the humans gathered here, troy was the only one who had to go to work tomorrow (and the next day, and the day after that) while they were all off for a multi-month summer break. anthony, in a concerned tone, asked, "but daddy, when is your break?"

i told him that i didn't get one, one that looked like his at least, but the good news was i didn't need one and that i was lucky to enjoy virtually all of the things i'm asked to do.

but then again, a wise man once told me to never change a winning game and stepping away for a month a year has always proven a good decision and i'm not one to snub sound advice or tinker with a well-running engine or cpu.

i do have some juicy goodness planned though so we'll pick up steam right out of the gate.

i hope you're able to obtain and enjoy a break of your own. see you on august 5th.

for any of you dissastified with their easter weekend offerings i have an alternative for you. in my first step towards digging out of my three month professional drubbing and subsequent slacking here, i describe your next spiritual journey possibility in the february gallery.

all,
i fear i'm up against it once more and being one who tries to subscribe to the if you can't do it well, don't do it philosophy, i need to step away for another moment.

i will plan to return on march 11th.

best.

troy.

i have two deadlines in the coming weeks and rather than subjecting you to quarter-cooked thoughts, i'm going to make the mature choice and step away for the month.

as to not totally send you from the doorstep empty-handed, i'll share the most salacious bit of conversation i enjoyed over the christmas break. i don't recall how it began but i surely liked how it slipped and tripped about.

see you in february.

best.

troy.

summer break is one of our sweetest, civilized rituals. and who says such an inspired creation has to be reserved just for the school-centric population? surely not me. so i'm going to share in the playful exuberance of my children by taking my annual break from my duties here.

i promise it's not you and it's fully me. well, me and the stack of magazines saved up on my desk waiting for someone to leisurely leaf through them.

in case you didn't notice, i left you with one last bit of fun before shoving off.

see you on august 6th.

due to a project deadline, i have need to step away for a bit.

see you 3/26.

i guess it's a good sign that after more than ten years of filling the pages of this site, i'm still enjoying it enough to forget to take my usual hiatus in the month of june. when i noticed in july i thought, hey that's pretty cool, and a few minutes after that i suddenly felt fatigued and short of words. those that have biked or played tennis or land polo with me know that mental fortitude in the face of steep hills or close matches or getting by good goal play is not my strong suit. so with that in my delicate-as-a-wildflower mind, i'm going to step away for the month of august. both of us will be the better for it. as per usual, i tidied up the office before i left by filling in the monthly gallery slot and catching up the menu.

enjoy the last month of summer.

for those who keep looking in to see when i might resume my important journalistic task of recording the mundanities of my family life, i fear i'm not up to it just yet.

honestly, i can't give you any sort of real or fair estimate on when i will be ready but am going to choose now to step away for at least the rest of the year.

thanks for all the thoughts and sentiments that were sent. they were appreciated and proved helpful.

i thank you in advance for your understanding.

regards.

troy.

unlike walgreens and blockbuster, i'll be closed for the holidays.

see you jan 4.

it's that time again. that time when i take a break from you and you take a break from me.

as is customary, i'm loading you up as i run out the door.
sassafras tea
what i'm reading
what i'm eating
june gallery

and, a monorail entry because how could i leave you without sharing a bella-creation. today is bella's last day of school. this year, bella's teacher was very into reading and writing so she and bella got on just famously. below is the thank you card bella made this very special teacher. and this afternoon when school is really done and this card has been delivered and school is shuttered for the summer, bella and i are off for our special end of school day where i take the kids out. alex who wrapped up a few weeks ago went go-karting. bella thinks she is going horseback riding (again) but instead we are going out for a big steak lunch followed by a day of roller coastering.

additionally, the below card is the first time bella every capitalized the A in her last name. for people without a middle cap in their name, this may seem trivial. for those that carry the burden in life, it is not.

this year it seems extra-fitting that i'm beginning my month sabbatical on the same day summer starts, for everyone in my home at least. it's got me feeling a bit childlike and giddy myself.

i'll be back with you on monday, july 6th.


click to enlarge

your host has gone skiing.

i'll be back with you on monday (the 23rd).

it's that time of year again. that time when i shut things down for a month and join the blogless masses in evenings free of FTP uploads and self-important blather. in typical OCD fashion, i'm dotting the I's by bulk updating the date-sensitive areas of the site:

may gallery photo
sassafras photo
may menu
reading update

and, to help distract you in my absence i'll share a few url's which have been greatly soiling my productivity as of late and will certainly garner some attention from me over the next 30 days.

desktop tower defense
virus2
boomshine

see you monday, june 4

as it turns out, i don't think i'm going to have time to mess with the daily pics. sorry for the psyche. see you next week.

it's that time of year again, that time when i step away for a month of down-time and disconnectedness. truth is it's never been more necessary than it is right now, as some of you may have noticed from the last few weeks worth of sporadic activity.

and as always, i leave you with a bevy of last moment content (eating, alex, gallery). additionally, this year i have made arrangements for you while i'm away by implementing a random post generator. you'll notice in a couple of different spots on this page the word RANDOM ([a] third item in the right hand menu [b] above this section and to the right of '2 years ago' and also [c] at the base of the page). clicking this link will present you with a random post from the past six years worth of entries. i've taken measures to see that what is presented contains less drivel than most but this is not to say that you still wont find yourself completely disappointed.

in practice this is just a little helper in the event you find yourself missing your daily ritual of laughing with/at me and being reasonably ocd myself, i respect your rituals be they driven by compassion or malice. give it a spin and let me know what you think, unless you simply think i think a bit too much of myself. no need to send feedback in that regard because i'm well aware of this, although i usually try not to so overtly advertise the point.

so for the month of may i bid you adieu. be well.

in preparation for my new job, and more significantly, my exodus from my previous one, i'm going to take the week off. i'll be back on the 10th.

it's that time of year again, that time when your host checks out for a month. actually i'm a month early but this is one of the beautiful things about being your own boss.

i'll be back monday, may 2nd.

meanwhile enjoy this and this and this and this.

and this.

UPDATE : check back on monday. i may have something to keep you entertained throughout the month. well, occupied for 3 minutes a day at least.

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AND ... lucky for you, michaelcosm is stepping up and coming out of hibernation for a month to regale us with five new michaelpellas.



tune in every friday.

we all know the boy does not dissapoint.

p.s. michael ... i love your rap month logo! too awesome!

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as of 5pm today i am off work for two weeks, or 16 days really. given this rare opportunity to avoid computers totally, i think i'm going to act on it and step out for a short while.

i'll be back on january 3rd.

in parting, allow me to leave you with this christmas sentiment.

the long awaited pollyanna section has been completed, kinda. you will now find content there, just not the intially intended PollyAnna material. it has been usurped by the later and greater TroyScripts effort.

you may also have noticed that the FastTrack verbiage was swapped for MonoRail. nothing too significant here. i just liked the sound and fit better. MONO: one or me. RAIL: vent or complain.