This game was very fun when my wife and I tried it out, but it is even more fun seeing what the kids come up with.  Our children range in age from four to nine, and therefore what they come up with can be interesting at times.

But the best part is that we spend some time together as a family, have some great laughs, and all-in-all, we have a great time.  If you have a family, I would definitely recommend Creationary – it is a blast.

When it comes to having family over, for the most part I love it.  There is nothing like having an excuse to play and I really love it.  I let the adults visit while I go play with the kids, and it is a blast.  But on days like today, when it is cold and rainy, the kids are inside and watching movies.  But I really love being an uncle and every time that we have kids here, it is a blessing.

As for our kids friends, sometimes the experience is good, and sometimes it is bad.  For example, I don’t really have a problem with my oldest daughter’s best friend.  She is polite, likes to play and they play well together.  She usually comes over for play dates and I really enjoy it when she is here.

But sometimes the experience is not a good one.  For example, we are watching my son’s friend for a week and it has been such a “joy”.  Not only is he the pickiest eater in the world, he is also very frustrating.  A big frustration for me is that his parents didn’t decide to send any food, money or anything like that with him – it is one thing to feed your family (which I don’t mind at all), but to feed a stranger, that is another story.  I might be jumping the gun here, but I really don’t feel like they will be giving us anything at all for watching their child for a week (and even something as simple as a thank you card would suffice), and that pisses me off.  I don’t care for people that walk around assuming the world owes them something – but that is a story for another day.

Time to get back to visiting with my family – it should be a fun day.

Now what kind of break you might ask?  Well, it can be as simple as going out for breakfast by myself, or as elaborate as taking a trip without the kids. This gives me the chance to “recharge my batteries”, let the stress of dealing with the kids evaporate and equip me for the upcoming weeks.  Depending on the time of the year, the length of the break varies, but I know that it makes a big difference for me.

In fact, let me provide you with a quick example.  At this moment, I am sipping coffee and there isn’t a kid around.  My tummy is full with the breakfast that I just consumed that I didn’t even have to prepare on my own.  I know that I will have to return home shortly, but for the moment I am content.  With Daughtry playing in the background here, I am thinking of his concert that I attended just a couple of years ago and I am smiling.  This short moment of peace will get me through the day of the fighting, questions, and “disaster management” that my role as a parent gives me.

Thank goodness for breaks.

You see, there was a computer game that was just released recently called Dead Island.  It is a game where you are one of four survivors from a zombie outbreak and you are trying to get off of an island alive.  Like any classic zombie movie, you are not alone, and you can play with up to four other people.

The game has a unique feature that you can just jump into someone else’s game if they are at the same location on the island as you are.  This means that no matter what time of day it might be, you can find someone to play with.  Working together certainly has its’ rewards, and gives you the opportunity to work together (or separately) towards a common goal.

I have been playing Dead Island now for over six weeks now and I have met a multitude of people.  But except for a few jerks, most of them are really nice people in all different stages of life.  There are people that are in the middle of working on their college degrees, people who just lost their jobs, and even a couple people like me working at home.  Having the opportunity to connect with others is great especially when you consider the isolation of working from home.

So, if you happen to be online playing Dead Island sometime, look me up on Steam – I play under the name Dom Qu'ar.

Dead Island List Price: $59.99 Sale Price: $25.49 You save: $34.50 (58%)   Eligible for free shipping! Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days The player is drawn into the world of Dead Island on the brink of a mysterious epidemic that suddenly, and without warning, breaks out on the fictional island of Banoi. As a guest of the Royal Palms Resort, the player's stay was supposed to be a dream holiday; a luxurious getaway to the beautiful beaches of a tropical paradise...

Dead Island List Price: $59.99 Sale Price: $25.00 You save: $34.99 (58%)   Eligible for free shipping! Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days The player is drawn into the world of Dead Island on the brink of a mysterious epidemic that suddenly, and without warning, breaks out on the fictional island of Banoi. As a guest of the Royal Palms Resort, the player's stay was supposed to be a dream holiday; a luxurious getaway to the beautiful beaches of a tropical paradise...

Dead Island [Download] List Price: $29.99 Sale Price: $26.70 You save: $3.29 (11%)   Eligible for free shipping! Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Dead Island List Price: $49.99 Sale Price: $19.93 You save: $30.06 (60%)   Eligible for free shipping! Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days The player is drawn into the world of Dead Island on the brink of a mysterious epidemic that suddenly, and without warning, breaks out on the fictional island of Banoi. As a guest of the Royal Palms Resort, the player's stay was supposed to be a dream holiday; a luxurious getaway to the beautiful beaches of a tropical paradise...

Dead Island Special Edition Sale Price: $57.31   Eligible for free shipping! Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days The player is drawn into the world of Dead Island on the brink of a mysterious epidemic that suddenly, and without warning, breaks out on the fictional island of Banoi. As a guest of the Royal Palms Resort, the player's stay was supposed to be a dream holiday; a luxurious getaway to the beautiful beaches of a tropical paradise...

Dead Island Special Edition Sale Price: $128.00   Eligible for free shipping! Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days In keeping with an atmosphere of desperation and survival by any means, Dead Island focuses on serious, first-person action gameplay with a close-quarter, immersive melee focus. Dead Island?7;s seamless 4 player co-op multiplayer seeks to provide the most immersive multiplayer experience to date...

If you have ever been in that situation, you know that it is one of the most depressing and desperate situations that you could ever be in.  I guess I had always taken the amount of food that we had for granted, but when you are looking at having nothing, you realize how much you really counted on having a warm meal each day.

At the time, we lived in the city and took the opportunity to take advantage of the Food Bank.  Sure, the food wasn’t the greatest, or what we were used to, but it kept us alive, which is something that I was truly thankful for.

Fast forward three years, and short of some disaster happening, I don’t see us being in that position ever again.  But I was reminded of it today when one of our neighbors came to the door asking if we had toilet paper.  I knew that they were having a hard time of things, but I didn’t realize it was that bad for them.

But things are better for us now, and I found that it was an opportunity for me to help someone that was in the same situation that we were not so long ago.  Besides, since we ran out of food, I have been afraid of that happening again, so I always make sure to have an excessive amount of food on hand – which meant that we had some to share.

Even though it isn’t a permanent situation, I know that I made a difference in their lives and helped someone out today.  I just feel blessed that I had the means to do so.

But, I’m back.  I was watching a movie the other day that inspired me and reminded me that I have things to share with the world.  Sure, not everyone will find everything to be interesting, but I’m sure there will be some observations here and there you might appreciate.

So, check back often and see what I’m writing about – it will be worth the visit

But one of the most important things that you need to do as a stay at home parent is have breaks from you kids.  Taking a break gives you the time to get rid of stress, “recharge” your patience, and appreciate your kids more.  I didn’t realize how important a break was to being a successful parent until recently.

In the past, I usually tried to get away from the kids for a day or two every two weeks or so.  For me, this was kind of the sweet spot and it allowed me to take a break before getting too worn down and frustrated with the kids.  But, it seemed that the timing wasn’t right over the past six weeks, and the usual opportunities that I normally would have had were taken away from me (thanks to being sick, and my wife’s business commitments).

Though I love my kids dearly, 42 days in a row with them was just a little too much.  These past few days, I found myself getting frustrated a lot easier and the little things got to me a lot more.  I think that even my wife noticed that I wasn’t doing so well and wasn’t “myself”.

But thankfully, I am sitting here writing this blog post sitting at my parents house with no kids in sight.  I am very thankful that they have the room for me and live reasonably close (an hour away), so that their home provides the perfect getaway without causing any kind of financial duress.

And how do I feel?

Great.  Relaxed.  And I am enjoying the quiet.  I know that coming to the city makes life a lot busier (since there are so many things to do), but it is a great way for me to recharge my batteries.  It has been long overdue.

This week, we have received calls from the same private and blocked number about eight times and they have wanted to speak to my wife every time.  “Unfortunately” she has been working, so tonight was the first time that she was home.

After they talked to her for a couple of minutes, the lady on the other end of the line wanted to talk to me.

Great.

When I picked up the phone she started rambling on how my wife had signed up for some contest on some site and we had won a trip to Universal Studios.  Being skeptical, my first question was:

“What site did she register on to enter the contest?”

Her response:

“It could have been any site…”

Wrong answer.  I asked her to take my name off the list and the call ended right there.

But at the same time, you find yourself with very few people to bounce ideas off of.  This can be problematic when you want to try something new – you have no one to talk to.

This just means that you need to use a little more trial and error, but in the end, you usually end up learning some valuable lessons.

An example of this is what I am doing right now – I am working on a plan to mass market a large number of blogs – 850 or so at the time of this writing.  Though most people would be intimidated by the task, these sort of challenges get me excited and remind me why I have decided the career path I have chosen.

So don’t be afraid to be different – where is the fun in being a sheep?

But procrastination will not get me or my family to the financial position that we need.  After my wife being let go last week from her job, the success of the business is even more important.  So it is time to “put up or shut up” and I better do what needs to be done instead of just farting around.

I have decided that an easy way to help me focus on work instead of just “farting around” is that I need a computer that is just solely for work.  This mean no Twitter, Skype, or checking stats (or email) five billion times per day.  This is a big time waster for me, and I can’t do that anymore.

So, I will be working by the clock, using a timer and working 50 minutes out of every hour.  During my break I am “allowed” to check my email and all that other “fun” stuff, but when I am working, that is all that I will be doing.

I will be reporting back in about a week to let you all know how it is going – I know that in the past when I lived my life by the timer I actually got a lot done, so I hope that it will work well this time too.

Anyway, enough of this blogging – I should get back to work before I need to go to bed (that is the new time management focused me talking   ).