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I’m a big, big fan of valuing my time. I’m an even bigger fan of paying someone to do something, even if I can do it, when I think that my time is worth more to me than what I’m paying. That’s why I’ve paid someone to cut my lawn for the last two years or so. That is until we recently needed a new septic tank… Since the money [...]

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What You Missed This Week Here’s a list of the original content we posted on the site this week: How Can You Know The Stove Will Burn Without Touching It? - Kids can either be coddled or allowed to learn about the world through trial and error. What kind of dad are you – overprotective or willing to let them learn? Keep Your Head In The Game!- A day of distractions [...]

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Holy crap has distraction taken hold today. I came home from a doctor’s visit around about two hours ago with every intention of sitting down and writing a post for the site…and I’m just getting started. First, I had to eat lunch. Then I had to try on the new neoprene calf support sleeve I got from Amazon. Then I absolutely had to skip over my Google Reader followed by [...]

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Earlier this week, Srini over at The Skool of Life wrote and article entitled The Most Important Factor In Finding Work You Love. In this post, he talks about how society seems to be concentrating on guiding people towards the the safe alternative and avoiding the riskier, but maybe better, alternative. The article got me thinking about being a dad and how we have to constantly battle the urge to [...]

How To Make Big Dan’s Baked Chicken

April 25, 2012
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Everyone is trying to save a buck these days and I’m sure you’re no different. Here at the BDR Estate, we’re trying to not only save a buck but eat healthy as well. One does not always make the other easier to do. So, how do we accomplish this feat when it comes to our daily lunches? How do we avoid the temptation of quick and cheap fast food lunches [...]

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Holiday Evolution: Passing On Traditions and Making New Ones

April 11, 2012
The BDR Family on Easter 2012

The holidays were always very structured events when I was a little kid. Thanksgiving was at my folks house, the menu was almost identical year to year and dinner was always served at the same time. Christmas and Easter were the same way – same venue, same menu, same itinerary. Then I grew up and moved away…and married a Jewish girl. My holiday count increased due to the addition of [...]

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What Your Folks Don’t Tell You About Being A Dad

April 5, 2012
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Daughter #1 made me be the bad guy last night…and broke my heart in the process. The Back Story The girls have been expanding their vocabulary exponentially lately. Their ability to string words into sentences has grown in parallel to their vocabulary. All of this progression has been great because they can finally hold conversations with us and let us know what they want, need, feel and dream. It also [...]

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The 3 Phases of Finding Out We Were Having Twin Girls

March 30, 2012
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Finding out I was having twins girls may have been the single most significant life event I had experienced up until that point. I’m an engineer by trade – that means I’m a mathematical guy. I understand numbers – percentages, probability, statistics…that kind of thing. So when I found out my wife and I were not only pregnant, but expecting twins, my mind immediately began crunching numbers. How likely was [...]

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