Author: Mark

I have been working from home since last April and have had to be in the office a few times since then, but only for a couple of hours in the morning. Then, I was able to finish my shift at home. Last week, that changed, as I was in the office Tuesday through Friday…

I guess being five years old, means some things must be perfect! If not, he gets frustrated and has recently started imitating our body and facial expressions from when we get frustrated. It’s actually really funny how accurate he is, especially when he uses them. Let me quickly explain… For breakfast, Niko wants ham and…

I have been listening to podcasts for several years; mostly comedy where the host or hosts interview somebody, a few music ones, and some sport ones, during my drive to and from work. That drive time averages about 2 and a half hours each day, so I can listen to quite a few throughout the…

I am not going to blab on and on and on and on about today, because everyday is both Mothers and Fathers Day and children’s day! But, I am looking forward to later in the day having some Chinese food that Nina and Niko will pickup. Noodles, rice, and dumplings for me! Yummy for my…

Hi, my name is Mark and I have been eating pasta, rice and a little bit of dairy for the past few weeks and I really need to put a stop to it now. I was doing so well before that (my stomach wasn’t hurting either during that time) and then, it all went down…

It feels really good that today I didn’t have to mow the backyard this morning like I did last Sunday and the Sunday before that. We had a lot of rain and the back yard grew quickly in the two prior weeks; this week, it’s just HOT. Our little battery powered lawnmower did a good…

We purchased this game several weeks ago, but it wasn’t until a few days ago that we eventually figured out how to play it. I enjoy it much better than all the Mario video games we have; mainly, because I get to smash things into lego pieces and it’s also a really great stress reliever….

Obviously, I love to write as I have been doing it publicly since 2011. It just comes so easy for me and once I get going, I am hard to stop. But, when I am not writing about writing, I love to read books. The books I choose are mainly autobiographies or biographies of people….

Last Wednesday and Thursday, I had to actually go to my work for a few hours in the morning. The good thing though, is that once I finished, I was able to come home and continue to work from home for the rest of my shift. It was nice to have some alone and quiet…

For the past few weeks; and in addition to his noise machine, we now play music for Niko for a about an hour while is going to sleep. Niko calls the two playlists Tinkle Tinkle and Spaghetti! Spaghetti, because Nina’s mom would put that particular album on and cook meat sauce and by the time…

Niko; who just turned 5 years old two weeks ago, really enjoys playing Mario video games. I can’t play Mario video games with him because he is so much better and faster than me. I always die immediately when we do play together and most of the time, when I do die, he leaves my…

Two weeks ago, I finished reading the last book of 9 in the Tales of the City series by Armistead Maupin. It was also adapted into a television series and I watched two seasons on Netflix and two seasons on YouTube. I finished watching the television series last Sunday. The last season; from 2019 on…

Why is it that only one day a year we celebrate Mothers Day? In my little world, everyday is Mothers Day! Niko and I absolutely adore Nina and cling to her throughout the days. The only alone time she gets is in the evenings after Niko goes to sleep and I am downstairs doing things…

This will be very short and sweet; oh my god, I really want something sweet right now. I am kidding. I am actually doing really good and am proud of myself. But, I will also tell you, it’s really hard since our house is full of stuff I don’t want to eat (like pasta, rice,…

I did really good not eating pasta and rice for almost 27 days; I started on 3/25 and was aiming for 30 days. But, my birthday was on 4/23 and I had Chinese noodles and fried rice that entire weekend; it actually started on 4/22! And, after that, I just continued to eat pasta and…

Niko 5th birthday was today and we are did an easy; just the three of us, celebration. So, I will make this very short and sweet. Basically, he got a homemade chocolate cake and lots of gifts; most of them were Mario related. But, his favorite is sleeping in bed with him and it’s Optimus…

ALSO PUBLISHED ON WWW.THESTATMANSPEAKS.COM Before Niko was born, I was a huge NBA basketball and San Antonio Spurs fan. Football and baseball, were not on my horizon. I could watch those two sports, but I wasn’t enamored like basketball. If anything, I liked basketball first and high school football second. From 1997 through 2016, I…

So, my 44th birthday is over and next up on birthday agenda is Niko; his is next Sunday. I don’t feel any different! Should I? I mean, I am happy as I have Nina and Niko and they make my life so much better. I have no stress as my schooling is completed; I got…

On Friday, I will celebrate my 44th birthday! I have no big plans, but I am taking tomorrow and Friday off from work. I always eat a lot of bad stuff during my birthday and this one started tonight with Domino’s Pizza! Tomorrow or Friday, my food consumption will primarily come from a Chinese restaurant;…

If you asked me what my favorite music genre is, I would quickly answer oldies; 50’s and 60’s! The funny thing about that is the fact that the majority of those artists are my parents age. I wasn’t even born! I was born in 1977 so, I should like late 80’s and 90’s! But, I…