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The Blog
Thursday June 11, 2009
A comment to my last post said "Good to hear though that you can still fit your soccer in with that big family.".... Well that was ironic since in my 2nd game somebody stood on my foot with his cleat. I didn't think much of it. I continued with game. Kicked the ball several times. Sure, it felt sore when the ball was away but as soon the ball would get close, I didn't notice any pain. Nevertheless the toe goes bigger and bigger after the game and of course it became colourful but I expected that. In the days that followed the pain became less and less but it didn't go away. So I skipped the game the next week but I went to a wedding and danced there. By Tuesday, so about 1,5 week after the incident, I thought it was time for a visit to the doctor since it was still painful. X-rays were made and as you can see, it was clear: a fractured toe.
So I am walking around with a cast around my foot. A smaller one as the previous time and I can walk very well with it and it should be able to get rid of it by the middle of July so my soccer season is not completely over yet. But for now it time for shorts...
Wednesday May 27, 2009
It's been awhile so time for an update. Kaylee is now really walking. No walking from couch to chair only. No, she just walks around the house freely. There were some painful consequences though. She feel at the day care and got some big scratches in the face but fortunately most of them have disappeared by now. It looked worse than it was.
Mariska has been changing, at least in my opinion. She is now living out fantasies. We have regular visits from lions, dragons and giants in the house. She has become more social when it comes to playing. She has even been playing tennis on the Wii. I also took Mariska with me for some shopping (or "winkelen" as she calls it; that's the Dutch word for it). She is not a runner so that's good. However, we have impression that Kaylee could become one. She is definitely different from her sister...
Catherine has been busy with work. She actually spent most of the long weekend working while I was Daddy Daycare. Not that I minded that, although it's the best way to spend a long weekend. Right now it looks that work will be slowing down for Catherine so that's good but she had not much time to adjust to the work life after she returned. However, I think we are both slowly adjusting to the new routines.
Soccer season has started for me. There is a draft every 2 year and I got drafted to the same team as the last 2 years. Our uniform is bright bright bright green. If I would wear it at home, I am sure that Catherine would always be able to find me, even in the dark. At work things have changed too. In the past year I looked after the position of my manager because she was on maternity leave but since this week she is back. It has definitely been an interesting year and I definitely learned a lot. It was a great opportunity for me to look at the next level and I have to admit that I liked the look. Sure, there were items I was not crazy about but I wouldn't mind get to that level again within a few years. My job hasn't really changed though. Basically the "Human Resources" part has disappeared since I have nobody reporting to me naymore but the other tasks are still there. At least I have seen a drop in my e-mails but that's because I am not on the management mailing list anymore ;)
Sunday May 3rd, 2009
She has been close for a little while know but Kaylee has finally taken several steps in a row.
Wednesday April 22, 2009
This last Monday was the start of a whole new in the Braeken household. Catherine returned to work from her maternity leave 2 weeks ago (long live the return of the 2 incomes!!!) but Kaylee was still not going to day care yet. The reason was some rule where they can not have 3 kids under 3 at the day care. Therefore my mother-in-law stayed with us for 2 weeks looking after the young one. For some men this might sound like hell but I happen to love my mother-in-law. Also because she really looks after the whole house during the day so everything looked great and cleaned up. We got really spoilt.
But last weekend one of the kids turned 3 and that meant that Kaylee was allowed to go to the same place where Mariska is going to. And so on Monday morning a new era started where I now need to get 2 kids ready in the morning. I had finally the routine with Mariska down to a science and now I had a new variable to deal with. But we all survived and Kaylee didn't even cry when I dropped her off so. I only wished I didn't had to get up even earlier...
The weekend of April 3-5, 2009
Lots of celebrations this week. On Tuesday Catherine left her thirties and landed in a new age bracket. And on Thursday we had our 4th anniversary. So we decided to go away for the weekend... without the kids since Grandma was staying at home with them. We went to Niagara-on-the-lake where we stayed 2 nights at the Queen's Landing.
On Friday we went to an Irish pub and Saturday morning we had a stroll through down town and along the water followed by a visit to some wineries and the Olson Bakery. In evening we had a nice dinner at the "Prince of Wales". On Sunday the weather was better and we went for another work followed by another winery. All in all a nice relaxing weekend without the need to watch the clock. But of course it was nice to see the kids again on Sunday.
Sunday March 22, 2009
Making videos is a tedious process. Well maybe I should say that not the making is tedious but all the work that needs to happen before it's ready to 'release'. It's one the reasons why I haven't shot a lot of movies. But I needed to shot some video of Kaylee walking around with her shopping cart, just as I did for Mariska. This way I will have some sweet memories of her at this age because even looking at Mariska's video, I find it hard to believe that Mariska was that young too.
Here is Kaylee
and to compare: here is Mariska with the shopping cart
March 8-14, 2009
This was suppose to be a post about 1 day but it turns out to be post about 1 week. On March 8th Kaylee turned 1. Yes, she still has fewer hair than Mariska had on her day 1 but our little lady passed the magical first year mark. And therefore we had her birthday party planned.
Problem was that both the girls hadn't been feeling well. Mariska had thrown up a few days earlier and both of them had been feeling warm. And then on Sunday Mariska had spots on her body. We didn't think she had the measles but just to be sure, we canceled the birthday party. Fortunately grandma had been with us the past couple of days (since she babysat the kids because Catherine and I went to see the Sound of Music musical).
On Wednesday we had party number 2 since Catherine's oldest brother came by with his family and Saturday we had the 3rd party since the youngest brother came by with his family. So all in all Kaylee had 3 birthday parties. Not a bad score for a 1 year old. Pictures the birthday parties can be found at http://braeken.com/tools/gallery/Kayleefirstbirthday
Mariska did not have the measles but just a heat rash. Her sinuses were infected so she got a spray. Kaylee was not feeling well before Mariska got sick. She got better and then she got the same thing as Mariska. The positive things they were not really sick sick. Both were still playing and not in bed. In fact, we have been very lucky with both of them since this is the first time that they have been sick, besides some colds of course.
Wednesday January 21 - February 10, 2009
It had been almost 4 years and my kids hadn't meet almost all of my family yet, so it was time for another trip to the 'father land' aka the Netherlands. On top of that we had another good reason namely the 40th anniversary of my parents.
The flight to the Netherlands went pretty well. We were fortunate that the plane wasn't full so Mariska had 2 seats so she could lie down. Catherine and I both found that it felt like the quickest trip back home ever. After a stop in Amsterdam, we flew too Cologne since it turned out to be cheaper than only flying to Amsterdam (I know it doesn't make sense but it was about 600 dollars cheaper and I checked it several times to make sure I didn't make any mistake...)
In Cologne we picked up the car which was a little bit bigger than the one we originally ordered. In fact, it was huge so we called it the Tank. It was the VW Multivan that had all the stuff including the navigation system. However the negative side effect of being a tank is the size. We were for instance never able to park in a parking garage since the car was too tall. We also had problems with parking at a grocery store. The first time we parked there neither Catherine or I could open the doors because the cars next door were too close to us. But driving in general was pretty great :)
Of course it was great to see my parents and brother again although I have the stinking feeling they were happier to see my kids than me...grandparents, you know ;) Since we were away for 3 weeks, it didn't feel that we constantly were in a visiting mode but we visited many people and many people visited us of course. The toy mountain of my kids grew and grew with every present they got. Many thanks again.
We visited family and friends. Some I hadn't seen for 4 years, some I hadn't seen even longer. But you can see that things change since when I got together with some of my friends it turned out that some of them hadn't seen each other also since my wedding. I guess we are all growing up ;)
As you can understand, my parents were excited to spend some time with their grand kids and for me and Catherine it meant that we had time to do things with only the 2 of us. I can honestly say that I think that I haven't spend that much time with her alone in these 3 weeks than in the past 2 years. We went for several walks (interupted with pie and drinks of course :), we visited the graves of my grandparents and visited the castle again where we had the Dutch wedding. We went shopping together (so I could update my CD collection of Dutch music which is still way too expensive...) and we enjoyed a very nice Indonesian Rijstafel together.
Here is a HDR picture of the St Gerlach church in Houthem - Valkenburg a\d Geul, that we obviously visited:
We also went abroad although that doesn't mean much since within 20 minutes you can be in Belgium or Germany from my parents. We visited the Belgium city Liege (30 minutes to get there - 30 minutes to find a parking spot...remember what I said about the Tank) and one day we left early in the morning for a nice ride through the Ardennes and the Eifel. We visited a American WW2 cemetery, a small but beautiful village called Monschau that has many old buildings, and the Belgium town of Spa. And we just drove over small(er) roads through the hills since I had told the navigation system not to use any high ways.
At the end of the trip we had the party for my parents which was a lot of fun. Even more uncles and aunts and friends to meet my kids for the first time. With the same band that played at my wedding and a surprise visit from a Carnival Monarch who decorated my parents with a medal as well as my kids.
And so a great trip came to an end. Sad to leave but happy to have been there again. It had been too long.
Pictures can be found here: http://braeken.com/tools/gallery/Netherlands2009 and there will be more on my flickr stream
Sunday January 18, 2009
The biggest part was done before Christmas but there were still somethings outstanding like the carpet and the baseboard. But they are in now and officially the contractors are done. As the photos show, there is still one thing outstanding and that is painting. But nevertheless, I am happy to show the new basement
Before:
After:
Thursday January 1st, 2009
Happy New Year to you all
Things have been well. Christmas came and went and Santa was good to me. My first present I got a week early (for obvious reasons....). It was a small snow blower: a Toro 1800 Power Curve. My back is my wife thankful since it's definitely making the shovel work lighter. On Christmas day I got a huge world map for in the basement. The basement by the way is almost done. The big items that are still left are the painting and the carpet so still pretty big items but the lights, power and walls are there where they need to be.
Yesterday evening we had friends over and we used the fondue and today the family is coming over. Tomorrow back to work although that should (????) be a relatively quiet day and then after the weekend everything will return to normal....
Photo contest
I participated in another photo contest and this one was the biggest one, namely the one from my camera club. I am happy to say that I got a 2nd prize in the humour category for the following picture.
The nice thing about this contest is that there were some nice prices. For my 2nd prize I got a 200 dollar certificate for some filters, a small camera bag, 400 6 by 4 prints at Blacks and a nice framed certificate. Not bad :)
You can find all the winners on this page: http://oakvillecameraclub.com/Competition.html but till January 10 you find all the 80 pictures in Oakville's Town Hall. Besides the one above, you will find 2 other pictures from me. I was very pleased that all 3 pictures made the cut since about 150 pictures were entered so it was not a given that you were one of the lucky ones that would be shown in the exposition.
Tuesday December 16. 2008
Time for an update. Did you know that..
- Kaylee started crawling
- within 1 week was also sitting straight up and also standing straight up
- Sinterklaas dropped by with some presents for everybody
- I have been playing indoor soccer on Sunday mornings
- I have been really enjoying it
- It's just pick-up soccer and that I sometimes run around topless in the gym (sorry for the image)
- I have been taking a lot of picture but mainly of the kids
- despite that, I submitted 3 pictures for the Oakville Camera Club photo contest
- that all my pictures made the cut and they will be in an exhibition
- that half of the pictures that we submitted didn't make the cut
- I got up this morning at 5 am to attend a Charity Breakfast
- that I prefer Charity Brunches..
- I sat one seat away from the CEO
- I still have my job so I must have behaved myself
- I am looking forward to Christmas period at work since it is supposed to be quiet
- I am not convinced that it going to be quiet
- our bonuses at work weren't really effected by the recession
- our basement is getting there...
- it still needs a lot of paint and also the carpet will need to be installed but that won't happen before January.
- I still need to buy my wife a Christmas present....
Saturday November 22, 2008
It's the time of the year where Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet are visiting Toronto again and I took Mariska with me to see them. Here are some pictures:
Tuesday November 11, 2008
It's remembrance day today here in Canada and that means for a 'banker' a day off. So I went with Mariska to the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. It was fun. She is going to be a horse girl but she had lots of fun with feeding the goats. Here is a small clip of that:
Friday October 31, 2008
Halloween at the Braeken's house. Mariska wasn't all sure about it. 5 minutes before we headed out, she told that she didn't want to be a giraffe. Well, I guess she did not have a choice so we persuaded her to put the costume on anyway. We took some quick pictures with a non-smiling Mariska and we headed out for trick and treating.
We went to quite some houses and she was pretty good. Hand in hand with pappa she went to each door but she was very quiet during the whole ordeal. But she had no problems with receiving the candy of course. I am sure that in a couple years she will be a little bit more enthusiastic when it comes down to Halloween. I had a good time and of course a pretty proud dad. I guess it was the first time that I went trick and treating.
Kaylee actually spent most of the evening in bed so we never had the opportunity to put a suit on, although she was wearing a pumpkin sleeper. So we put her elephant outfit on a few days later. And we did get a smile from her:
Saturday October 25, 2008
I took this picture of the 'famous' bronte's white oak last year and when the Oakville Green organisation organised a photo contest this summer, I entered it. Last Wednesday was the award ceremony and my picture won the first prize in the Full Tree photo category:
(from the local newspaper 'the Oakville Beaver')One small detail. This picture was taken at 2:46 in early August so it is definitely not a sunset picture :)
So that was nice since there were about 125 pictures in the contest in total. My prize is gift certificate from Henry's although that is still supposed to be in the mail. Here is a picture of me with the Member of Provincial Parliament Kevin Flynn who congratulated me on stage:
Here is a small article about it on the Oakville Green web site
Saturday October 18, 2008
Did you know that...
- Mariska has made great progress with potty training
- she is very excited every time she has 'success'
- she makes us to see the end result in the potty....EVERY TIME
- she receives a potty chocolate after she is done
- she is now wearing regular underwear during the day
- Kaylee has started to eat solid food
- as a result we now have 4 people at the dinner table
- next week they start with installing our basement
- our garage is full with building materials
- we didn't realise how much they had and that they wanted to put it in the garage
- I was therefore running around cleaning up the garage while they started to unpack their trucks
- Mariska has started her swimming lessons again
- I therefore will be in a pool with her every week
- my outdoor soccer season ended last week
- my team won the play-off championship
- I didn't think we would after we were down 0-2 during half time in the semi-final while being outplayed
- we nevertheless put 3 goals in their net in the 2nd half
- work has been busy which means that there is never a dull moment
- I bought a flash for my camera with my birthday money
- our PVR is getting fuller and fuller and we are only just a few weeks into the new TV season
- we probably have to make some hard decisions about what to tape and what not
- I am still loving my iPod touch since I watch movies\podcasts all the time on the ride home from work
- it is a joy to watch the Dutch soccer on "Studio Sport" every week
- I can watch this Dutch show because I receive it on the satellite
Saturday September 27, 2008
Did you know that...
- Mariska moved to her new room a few weeks ago
- Kaylee moved to her new room a few days later
- we are therefore are finally alone in our bedroom
- Kaylee's first tooth is poking out of her gums
- we have booked our flights
- flying through Cologne was the best deal for us after all
- I still think it's ridiculous that adding an extra flight makes the overall cost go down
- yesterday's win in my soccer league means that we are still alive in the play-offs
- a loss means the end of the season
- that we might have won but that my shoes didn't survive the game
- I therefore need to do some shopping before the next game
- I have another picture being published in a local magazine from the Oakville's Community Arts Foundation
- we went to the zoo last weekend
- Mariska enjoyed touching the 'fish' (stingray) and ride on the camel
- I am going to see the Toronto FC tonight
- that this is the only ticket I was able to buy since every game is sold out
- so far I am disappointed with the Spore game since the game play is very repetitive
Sunday September 14, 2008
The frustrations of booking airline tickets... Below are the costs for booking tickets for my family for the exactly same dates:
* Toronto-Amsterdam and the same route back with KLM: 3400 dollars
* Toronto-Amsterdam-Cologne and the same route back with KLM: 2850 dollars
* Toronto-Amsterdam-Dusseldorf (KLM) + Dusseldorf-Paris-Toronto (Air France): 2450 dollars.
This does not make ANY sense...
Monday September 8th, 2008
Did you know that...
- summer is over at least according to the number of taken parking spots at my GO train station last Friday
- in the previous weeks the parking lot was pretty empty especially on Fridays
- (knock on wood) I haven't had a big injury in soccer yet this year (if you don't include the bruised ribs and a small hamstring problem...)
- there are still 5-6 weeks left in the season so I still have plenty of opportunity to get injured.
- my soccer team keeps on squeezing out wins with 1 goal difference
- we are, as a result, still in the running for the championship
- Kaylee's hair finally start to grow...we think
- Kaylee is probably getting her first tooth soon give her swollen gums
- this might explain why she has been waking up in the middle of the night
- Kaylee turned 6 months today
- it feels like that Catherine has been off work for much longer
- Catherine is addicted to CNN
- the hurricane season and the elections are to blame for that
- I had my first real meetings with a vice president at work
- I survived those meetings
- Catherine is working on Mariska's new room and we hope to move Mariska to that room pretty soon
- Kaylee will then move from our room to the baby room
- we were told by the city to remove the cedars that my dad planted along the other side of the fence
- this issue became up because somebody planted 2 trees in a structure halfway between the fence and the path
- this it was so obvious to us that the city would not allow it, that it's hard to believe that they couldn't understand that
- everybody in the street now has to remove everything that has been planted on the other side of the fence
- we have till the end of May next year to move those cedars
- I bought "spore" today
- that I start with the installation of it before I started this posting
- it's still not even halfway completed
- I am going to put an end to this post anyway....
Sunday August 17, 2008
I mentioned that Mariska pronounces her name "slightly" different from what it should be. Although it is in Dutch, here is the proof:
Thursday August 14, 2008
Mariska is taking over the internet. Well, her face is now appearing on a new website that is not maintained by her pappa. As a result of the photo contest, Mariska's face can now also be seen on www.oakville.ca. Here is a screenshot or check the website out yourself:
Monday August 11, 2008
Did you that
- we had a good time at Springridge farm.
- Mariska especially liked the pony ride.
- tears were flowing when she had to get off her pony as the photo's in the pictures section showed.
- we went to the Toronto Islands last weekend
- it started to drizzle as soon as we had set foot on the Islands
- we still spend a few hours on the island and I am happy that we went despite the precipitation
- this picture can tell you how black the clouds were when we were on the ferry back coming from the Islands
- it really started to rain once we got back on shore again
- it actually felt chilly a few days.
- Mariska now regularly says "Oh God, oh God", something she learned this from her cousin.
- we have been 'working out' on the Wii Fit
- both of us actually lost some weight but the Wii Fit can't take the credit for everything
- I am hoping to lose about 20 pounds
- I wouldn't mind more but for now I think losing 20 pounds will be difficult enough
- Catherine now knows that I have problems with standing on one leg
- we had a huge explosion in Toronto on Sunday
- we didn't hear anything in Oakville
- Mariska is really good at saying the word NO
- Mariska can say MA (pause) RIS (pause) KA but that she says 'Madja' when we ask her what her name is
- we think it's weird for a 2 year old to like garlic sauce and to see her sucking on a lemon
- I realised that 3 of my 4 direct reports are actually older than me
- I don't mind being a manager although it is definitely more stressful
- I have mentioned Mariska a lot in this posting again and not Kaylee yet.
- Kaylee slept 15 hours on 1 day last week
- Kaylee now has been mentioned in this post.
- I should also mention that Kaylee also now rolls over and back
- Kaylee now finally sleeps in a crib because she was big for the bassinet
Wednesday July 30, 2008
Did you know that
- we reached the end of July but that I don't have the feeling that summer has started yet.
- this might come because of the strange weather we are having
- we are having the wettest summer on record in Toronto
- I don't mind all the rain all the much
- this must be a Dutch thing...
- Mariska has decided that she doesn't want to be in the high chair anymore
- she even doesn't like wearing a bib during dinner but that she doesn't have a choice
- Kaylee is getting bigger and bigger
- Kaylee really smiles a lot
- Kaylee still doesn't a lot of hair
- Kaylee has even less problems with falling asleep in the evening than Mariska did
- we celebrated Mariska's birthday last weekend since Catherine's family will be out of town this weekend
- Mariska got a little vacuum cleaner (besides other stuff of course)
- she therefore will be tired of vacuuming cleaning when she is a grown-up
- Catherine has been working on the new bed room for Mariska
- we got a heart attack when we got the first quote for finishing the basement
- we were a lot happier with the second one
- we now hope that we have a finished basement before Catherine goes back to work
- flying to the Netherlands with a wife and 2 kids is not cheap
- we still want to go there next year for my parents anniversary
- we just need a good sponsor to pay for everything ;)
Sunday July 20, 2008
As many know, I enjoy taking pictures. A couple of months ago I got an e-mail from the Oakville Camera Club about a contest organised by the city of Oakville. They were looking for a cover picture for their parks, recreation and culture brochure. Catherine had seen it too in the newspaper and she suggested one particular picture for it. So I submitted it and a few weeks ago I was told I won that contest and yesterday the brochure arrived not only on our doorstep but on all the doorsteps in Oakville and yes, there was Mariska on the front cover:
And this is what was written on page 3:
I guess I could call myself now a prize winning photographer ;)
Sunday July 13, 2008
When Pappa is not around and you only hear his voice when he calls, well then you need to kiss the cell phone if you want to kiss him...
(no idea how to get rid of that second picture....)
Thursday July 10, 2008
It's been awhile since I have given an update in this corner of the internet but because of hyves.nl and facebook.com, it is not that I had disappeared completely from the face of the earth. In fact, I think I have never been more in touch with so many people. I think it's really neat to stay up to date with people through these web sites. And I am not even as addicted to these web sites as my mom....
Anyway, last week we went up North again for the annual week at the Smilin' Moose, the cottage that Catherine's family rents once a year. I actually had to work on Monday but thanks to old technology, dial-up, I was able to work from the cottage. But being on dial-up makes me appreciate my fast (= normal) internet connection even more. Boy was it frustrated to be on dial-up again, but it did the job.
The Smilin' Moose was fun. Gained some more weight (really need to start loosing weight, really....) and Mariska loved the beach, that is on the same property. Everyday she want to go there, where she mainly collected water in a bucket and then poured it out again. Over and over again. There were days where she just didn't wanted to go back to the home, resulting in tears of course.
After the Moose, Catherine and the kids continued their journey up North and visited her grandparents, who were with us at the Moose, so that means that I am currently all alone at home which is weird. It was weird to go to the store to buy groceries for the upcoming week. Not that I mind buying groceries or that I never buy groceries. The opposite. I actually like groceries shopping (most of the time) but this time I had to think about what I was going to eat for the rest of the week.
They are planning to come back to Oakville on Monday so I am still going to be on my own for a couple of days. It will especially be weird on the weekend since the evenings this week go by pretty quickly. I had planned to do a lot but it looks like I am just busy with doing all kind of little things.
Obviously I miss my 3 girls and it was heart warming to hear Mariska enthusiastically say "Pappa, pappa" when I called them up. She hasn't forgotten her daddy (yet ;) and I am sure her mommy is missing me as much as I miss her :)
PS Last year Catherine returned home from the Moose pregnant (as we found out a few weeks later) but I guarantee you, well almost guarantee you, that this is not the case this time. ("deep sigh from grandma")
Sunday June 22, 2008
Did you that...
- it really hurts to be a fan of the Dutch soccer team
- that the Russian team was just better
- two hours before the start of the game Betty's, the Dutch hang-out, was already full
- there was also a line-up for the back-up place
- I therefore had to watch the game from another bar also full with Dutch people, which people looking through the windows from the patio.
- they initially only had 1 person looking after the whole bar
- you therefore couldn't get drunk if you wanted to
- I couldn't get drunk anyway since I drove into town
- at least my biggest fear now won't happen: losing against Italy in the semi-finals
- it still sucks
- I haven't seen as many flags on the cars as in previous years
- we are having rain almost every day
- we are having so much rain that the grass seeds the neighbour put down 2 months ago now finally came out
- it proves that those seeds would have come out earlier if they would have watered the grass earlier
- my dad planted cedars outside the fence it the back a few weeks ago
- one person in the street planted 2 trees in some kind of structure at the back on the other side fence too
- those trees weren't even close to the fence
- that this attracted the attention of the city
- we now got a letter to remove the cedars.
- we still hope that we can keep them
- we wouldn't have gotten that letter if that person would not have planted those 2 trees
- Kaylee still doesn't have a lot of hair
- Kaylee probably has less hair now than Mariska when she was born
- Mariska now doesn't mind sitting on the potty but you need to provide her plenty of books.
- Mariska is going back to the daycare 3 days per week
- this gaves Catherine the opportunity to get Mariska's new bedroom ready
- I got a Marco Borsato CD for Father's day
- Mariska decided to sleep in that day till after 10 in the morning
- Kaylee slept till 9:30 that same day
- it might be a long time before this happens again on a Father's day
- I am enjoying this style of writing since it's so easy
