Author: Mark

On October 31, 2015, I wrote my first blog post on www.thedadspeaks.com, and today, I have reached number 500! On www.thestatmanspeaks.com, I have 441, and that one started in July of 2011. I was very active through 2017 as I stepped away from sports writing. Since then, I have only had 14 published blogs, and…

I have been thinking for the past few days about downgrading my wardrobe. By that, I mean, put all of my t-shirts away and wear my Cariloha bamboo t-shirts, my Threads 4 Thought t-shirts, and my Flag and Anthem short sleeve Henley’s. I think I have about 10 all together compared to about 100 t-shirts….

This morning, and about an hour before my Niko school alarm vibrated on my wrist, Niko came into our bedroom, and told us he wasn’t feeling well, and when he told me what ached, I made the decision of no school. Yep, sick again. It’s been really hard getting him to take medication, because he…

My wife told me I need to change NaNoWriMo to NaMaWriMo. National Mark Writing Month, because I am doing my own thing and not following the official rules. Yes, there are official rules along with groups for support all over social media and the internet. I joined one on Facebook, went inside for a few…

This one is going to be another short one, as it took Niko a little longer than normal to fall asleep tonight and I was the lucky one who got to sit in his room waiting. I am tired, and I don’t know. I slept well and Niko didn’t wake up till 6:15 am. My…

Today, I wasn’t planning on going out anywhere as yesterday we had a fun day at La Cantera, an upscale outdoor shopping mall. Niko and I were in our usual Sunday positions on the sofa and Nina was in the office doing some sewing. She has to keep the door closed because we don’t want…

Today, Nina, Niko, and Mark didn’t waste a beautiful cool day sitting at home sewing (Nina), watching YouTube (Niko), watching television (Niko), playing video games (Niko), reading a book (Mark), or writing something that nobody will read (Mark). The family of three went to an outdoor upscale shopping mall close by their house. They wanted…

So, today was a day off for me because I work for a bank, and my plans were to mow the front lawn after we dropped Niko off at school, pick up our grocery order, Starbucks for Nina, and maybe something for me somewhere else. Oh, yeah, how can I forget, I definitely want a…

This one may end up being the shortest NaNoWriMo for me, and frankly, I don’t care. The end. No, that is not the end. I do have a few things I want to write for you. I am off tomorrow for Veterans Day, and I am planning on picking up our grocery order, get some…

This is from www.thedadspeaks.com with a date of 09/04/2022. The Family Speaks I have published three Amazon eBooks, and each one covered a certain part of my life: becoming a first-time dad, getting my MBA, and how I got started as a statistician, writer, and photographer. One part of my life yet to be covered…

Working From Home I have no clue on why I never thought about working from home until the Covid-19 pandemic happened. Now, I am loving it. No more stress. No more early mornings. No more traffic. No more construction. No more stupid drivers. No more filling up my gas tank every week. The last time…

I apologize for the pathetic NaNoWriMo from yesterday. It was poorly written. I copied something I previously wrote and added a few new sentences. What was I thinking? Well, my lazy excuse is I was tired, and you can blame Daylight Savings Time. Every time we change clocks, it always messes with Niko’s sleeping. I…

A Birthday Party Today, Niko got to celebrate a schoolmate’s birthday party at Urban Air. This was his first time, and ours also as parents! Om October 23rd, I wrote this about the invitation from a classmate: Last Tuesday, one of Niko’s classmates invited him, along with the rest of the class, to her birthday…

This is from www.thedadspeaks.com with a date of 08/25/2022. Banking 101 When I resigned from Chase bank on August 15th and accepted another job that wasn’t in the financial services industry, Nina and I were going to share our banking experiences and try to help people better understand their finances. That job I ended up…

This one is from www.thedadspeaks.com with a date of 09/09/2021. Marketing 101 After I click publish and copy my most recent blog to Facebook and LinkedIn, my job is done. I don’t schedule interviews with the local or national NBC, CBS, ABC, or FOX affiliates to promote it. I also don’t Tweet anything about it…

This one is from www.thedadspeaks.com with a date of 04/21/2022. Dads of San Antonio Dads of San Antonio is a Facebook group that I belong to, along with 2200 other dads. This is taken directly from Facebook… it’s a group where local dads can positively support each other through encouragement, tips, advice, occasional business networking…

This one was in draft mode on www.thstatmanspeaks.com with a date of 04/26/2021. SAN ANTONIO SPURS I worked for the San Antonio Spurs from October of 1999 through May of 2002 in the Guest Services department. I worked every home regular and playoff game at the Alamodome during that timeframe. I still have most of…

I have always wanted to participate in NaNoWriMo, also known as NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH for the month of November. So, I am going to do it every day this month. I have seen that it needs to be 50,000 words by the last day of the month. I am not sure I will make…