Who reads this Urban Daddy blog, anyways? Google Analytics, please tell me the truth!

So, it turns out that after posting 200 posts over 4 years, you're still not a true or real blogger unless you look at some statistics to notice that it's not true that only your mother, sister and wife are reading your posts.

Hmmm.

Who knew.

In fact, I was shocked to see that several hundred people come by each week to poke about and learn more at the fun that parenting can be in urban Toronto with a full-time job where your family is the most important thing in the world.

So a fellow blogger, Haley O, The Cheaty Monkey (also my neighbour) mentioned this thing called Google Analytics and after adding it to my blog I had some hard stats to read through and I love me some statistics!

I also found some very interesting stuff yesterday.

I found a ranking of keywords typed into google which brought people to my site, and man are some of them really interesting, not because they got people to my site, but because I have this sneaky feeling that these issues I have touched upon while my kids are 1 and 3, are going to continue to be problems as my kids get to be older...

Here is the list of the top 15 keywords which brought people to my blog:

1. urbandaddy (the dot com site that came, ahem, after my blog was set up)

2. urban daddy

3. The urban daddy

4. Parenting

5. Daddy's in Toronto

6. How hard is it to be a dad?

7. Will I ever sleep again?

8. Who changes dirty diapers?

9. Can I work and raise a kid?

10. Will I lose my hair?

11. Will I gain weight?

12. Will I ever have sex again?

13. Discipline

14. Sweets

15. Treats
 

These keywords kill me because I can say they are all applicable and only time will tell how true they are all, but so far they seem to be right on track.

 

Parents... How many of those keywords below will I be searching out as my kids get older??

Graduate School, Parenting, and Work: Can I now complain that I am tired?

I did it!

I just completed my presentation for my Business Strategy class today. That on it's own is certainly not worthy of a blog post, but the way it got done is something I would like to remember in 5, 10 or 15 years. You see I naively began my graduate school MBA program 4 days after my first child was born - way back in 2004. So as 2007 comes to an end, so does my 3-year program.

Along the way came child #2, and a realization that my life had changed forever. Child #2 never slept more than 2-3 hours at a time, and he was (and still is) hungry all the time. Child #1 likes to get up for the day at 6am so I had to adjust to the infrequent sleeping pattern and to getting up so early in the morning.

Add to that my work schedule saw me at the office at 7:30am, working until 5pm, and my grad school study time from 10pm to 2am, and you can see there is not much time for me, even less for my wife, and not too much time at all to sleep.

Is it okay now to say that I'm tired?

So what made this specific assignment so blog-worthy was the fact that I followed my usual schedule (up at 6 with Linus, got ready for work, fed him, fed Stewie, then walked to the subway, all before 7am). Due to my work schedule, I was entitled to 3 days off of work in a month, but I needed the peace and quiet so my employer assigned me a cubicle in the middle of a vacant floor to finish my work, so I then worked straight from 8-4 on this presentation. I even forgot to eat...

By 4:30, I had packed up, and I walked home (about an hour and 15 minute walk), helped with dinner, bathed the kids and got them to bed before my class started. My presentation was the first one of the night and my 20 minute presentation turned out to be the entire hour and 15 minute class! Awesome. I think it was well received. I tried not to sound monotone while going over my PowerPoint, so I added some additional comments, a few examples and room to ramble, and boy did I ramble. There were loads of questions from the class. I enjoyed the process and it's amazing having these types of discussions with super-intelligent people from all walks of life.

Then when it was over, I sat back, took a deep breath and realized how much work I need to catch up on.

While presenting, my Corporate Finance class were sending, like 1000 emails back and forth regarding our final case study project, and we finally submitted it about 1am! Whew.

Then while cleaning up the dishes I got to watch Candice Michelle fall from the top rope during her 2 out of 3 falls match on RAW, and land right on her left shoulder and head. She left on a stretcher... I know wrestling is not real, but this was live TV and boy, she almost killed herself. That injury was very real.

At 3am I went upstairs to have a shower before bed and found my wife and Linus cuddled up and sleeping so soundly in our bed. They both look so peaceful. Cuties!

I'm taking full advantage of this and sleeping in Linus' bed all by myself!

The rest of the week looks to be the same. I have to complete some work on my Business Strategy class, then I have to attend my Finance class tomorrow night, a business meeting Wednesday night and an office "town hall" meeting Thursday - which I love!

G'Nite all.