Alrighty, it's been almost 4 months since my last post and I apologize for that. It's been a busy few months, with a ton of stuff going on, and I will try to skim over it as best as I can(but it probably won't work). I'm currently deciding if I will talk about my daughter first, then myself, or just get my stuff out of the way so we can delve completely into everyone else. I think I will just mix it all together and see what sort of dish we can come up with. Where to begin...
Let's start with one big thing that happened about a few moths ago.It was my birthday. My 29th to be exact. Birthdays are always a tricky thing for me. On one hand, you love the small amount of attention you get for others that affirms the fact that they care about you. On the other hand, it's a grim reminder that you are getting older. 29 isn't that old, but still, it's old enough. My wife made a fantastic cake for my birthday. It's based on a tabletop game I play right now called Warmachine(I will mention it in a later post but don't want to hit the details of it at the moment). There is a particular character in that game that I love playing with, and she made a cake with a drawing of him on it. I was impressed with how awesome it looked, and how much time and effort she obviously had put into it. It made me feel very special. The next night I had some friends over and we ate some grilled hamburgers and steaks and the cake that Jamie made and watched District B13. A great movie if you like dude movies. It was nice to have my friends around sharing the time with me.
The next day we went to Critter Company for one of my friends' daughters first birthday. They had cokes and pizza and Elena had a great time. They brought out 5 animals for the kids there to play with. They were a hedgehog, chihuahua, bird, ferret, and snake. The snake was a giant python, easily 10-12 feet long and as thick as my arm at it's biggest point. Elena enjoyed the snake most of all I believe. As soon as they laid it out, Elena went running towards it making this hissing noise like a "Tsssssss Tssssssss" and was just petting on the snake. It was funny because most adults are even deathly afraid of snakes, but Elena would have probably liked for us to take it home if we could have. The birthday girl received this giant stuffed animal for her birthday. Think of a stuffed animal just slightly smaller than me. Elena had taken a shine to it and was not super happy that she wasn't able to keep it. So immediately after the part was over, we went to Albertsons next door to grab some basic groceries, and Jamie saw a giant stuffed giraffe and we got it for Elena. We call it her baby and she absolutely loves laying on it.
Next was Halloween. My daughter had a beautiful Princess Leia outfit that I had purchased from Thinkgeek.com. She didn't want to keep her headpiece on so we had to put it on sparingly. Her grandparents came over and they walked about 3 or 4 houses, allowing Elena to do just a smidge of trick or treating, while I stayed home and made sure any kids who came by got their candy, minus any Dots I could get my hands on, since I absolutely love those things to death.
In the midst of all this time, I began a process of slowly getting everything about me checked out because I want to make sure that I am alive as long as I can be for my family and friends. I know things like skin cancer and colon cancer aren't really things to worry about until you are in your 40's, but I figure that if they are good enough to look at then, they are good enough to get a jump start on 10 years early. I went to a Dermatologist and had some things looked over. He took a sizeable chunk of my left arm out because apparently a cyst had formed, and even though it was completely harmless, it was a bump I had been wanting to get removed for quite some time. One thing of note, however, was a mole on my neck. He wanted to remove it, saying that type of mole statistically had a 20% chance of being quite an issue down the road. Well, I know 1 in 5 are good odds, but when skin cancer is the item on the line, it's not really something that you want to chance. Test came back later saying they got it all, and I have a checkup appointment in about 4 weeks to make sure that it's all good to go and there are no other spots to worry about. Next on my list is a gastro specialist to see about colon cancer. That's one of those issues that you need to get checked out early, because generally by the time you start getting symptoms that tell you that something is wrong, it is too late to do anything about it.
Then there was Thanksgiving. Nothing really of super importance other than we spent time with friends and family and just tried to make the best of juggling all of our family obligations. Most of December was the same way. I will try to sum it all up so that you don't fall asleep reading this giant update. Early December was us getting our lights and Christmas tree up, and saw me have my fate sealed in our Fantasy Football League. Late December was far more interesting. Myself, my wife, and my daughter spent time going to my sisters for Christmas so Elena could see her one of her sets of Grandparents(My father and my Stepmother). She had a great time, got some good toys, saw her cousin, and I even got a chance to go play a game of golf with my father and brother-in-law. I have to say that I enjoyed playing golf that day. The country club had some great scenery, and it was quiet, and overall a beautiful day. Sunny, but a nice wind that kept you just cool enough not to sweat. All in all, I loved it.
Then there was actual Christmas. We went to the Christmas Eve party at my mom's house. There Elena got to see some of my family that she doesn't see often, like my Aunt, my cousins, and the relatives from that side of the family. After much feasting, most of the people went home and my immediate family exchanged gifts. Like before, Elena got a ton of things, and was more interested in the boxes and wrapping paper than in the contents. Come Christmas Day, we relaxed and put together all of Elena's toys until it was time to go to Jamie's stepdad's house. Rinse and repeat at her fathers house. It was all a good, but very busy 3 days overall.
Then came New Years Eve. We spent the night hanging out at my great friend Jason's house with his family, his friend Christine's family, and our friends Mike and Brandi. We had an awesome time playing games, eating food, watching the New Years celebration on TV, but most of all, popping fireworks. Last year, Elena was too young to really care about the fireworks at all. And this last 4th of July, there was a fireworks ban because the weather had been dry, and there had been a slight drought. But I am a man who loved his fireworks, and I figured that now that Elena could appreciate it all, I was going to go over the top. We fired off Artillery Shells, and just about every single firework imaginable. But instead of the amazed look I imagined Elena would have, it seemed that every shot scared her. Kind of a bummer, but there is always next year. She stayed up pretty much all night until probably 12:30, and then completely crashed on the way home. The whole household slept in quite well that morning.
Well, that's all. I will do my best to keep updating this thing more frequently with pictures and such. I just had a sudden gut feeling to post and was more interested in catching everyone(by that I mean myself, since I am the only one probably reading this) up. Expect another post this week with what I hope is more insightful observations. But as for now, I think I have pretty much written the entire Internet in this post, so I will call it a night, because it's getting late. Night night.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Thursday, September 29, 2011
How we view our parents
Well, yesterday was a great day. My wife went to Kung Fu class which pretty much left me, the pets, and Elena home to watch some TV and play a bit before bedtime. At times it is rough because you aren't able to do the things part of you wants(play video games, talk on the computer, etc) and then the baby demands constant attention, but at the same time, you don't really miss it because there are moments that make it all worth it.
Take the other night for example. I was sitting at the table in the living room eating some food(it doesn't matter what it was) and Elena was standing at the table eating and watching TV with me. This is a fairly common scene since she we don't go and sit at a dining table, and she loves to shovel a bit of food in her mouth, walk around or watch some TV, then come back to the food on the table. Anyways, back to my point. I noticed after a few bites that there seemed to be a pattern in what was going on to my left. Elena had her head turned slightly away from me, but was still watching me like a hawk out of the corner of her eye. I proceeded to do the same to see what she was up to. I noticed that as I would lift my fork to my mouth, she would almost exactly mimic my action with her food, and that she would chew as long as I did, swallow, and do the same when I would take a drink from my glass of milk. When I finally turned to face her and she realized she was caught, she just started laughing and did a small little dance with her shoulders that she does from time to time when she gets particularly excited.
All in all, it was a pretty nifty thing that most people without children will look at and go, "Who cares, that's nothing to get excited about." But parents know how special that is, especially at that young of an age. It's times like that you realize just how much your kids watch you and what you do, and just how much you influence who they are becoming. None of us are perfect, despite how much we might try to be. Although I always knew that I would have to watch how I speak and act around my child, that night it kinda drove the point home.
It makes me think of my parents. It's crazy because most people(and I am sure that my daughter will be a part of this group as she grows up) view their parents as these other-worldly fuddy-duddies who led somewhat plain lives and must have always been these relatively boring and predictable people. You look at the fact that when you are a teen, having fun with your friends and living it up, they are sitting at home watching TV and reading books and occasionally going out to the movies or dinner with each other. You tend to take away that your parents have a very poor social life, and are somewhat boring people, and must have always been. What you don't realize is, that your parents were just like you(not always) when you were young, but there came a time when they had to grow up.
Would your parents love to be able to go to work from 8-5 and then magically shut everything from work off at 5:01 and just do what they want all day. I would be willing to wager that most would. However, we don't. You have additional things to worry about, like what the family will eat that night for dinner, how is everything going with your children, what am I going to do at work tomorrow and later this week, how is my financial situation, etc. Even after all that, they still need to spend time with the spouse/children. It drags on a person, and at the end of the day, there isn't room left for "living it up" or "tearing up the town". Some parents might find that in their spare time, they want to go out and have a blast, but when I get those nice vignettes of personal time, I just want to relax and let my mind stop worrying about what is happening in my life for a while. To some people, this might make you look lazy or boring, but to you, it's what keeps you sane. It makes me appreciate what my parents and those around me had to sacrifice to make sure I came out reasonably well adjusted and sane.
Now, with all that said, I know that I have a wife who is extremely helpful. She does the laundry, takes care of most of the cleaning, and overall pulls more than her fair share of the work around the house. Even with all she does, parenting is tough. I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like raising a kid as a single parent. I truly have a ton of respect for those people. I know you guys/gals have to put up with a lot of crap, and sacrifice a lot of your personal time to make sure that your children come out ok.
When I was younger, I loved video games. I played a ton of them from just about every genre available to mankind. I played a ton, and took pride in just how good I was at games, and how quickly I could pick them up and be good at them. Even when I was married, I would play them and I still had a fair amount of time to hang out with the wife and watch our favorite TV shows when they came on, instead of now having to rely on a DVR. Any day of the week, I could call my wife on the phone and say, "Hey babe, let's go see a movie tonight" and when she agreed, that was all that needed to be planned. Nowadays, with a child, we have to find a sitter, feed the kid first, find a showtime that works around our sitter and gets us home early enough to bathe the baby and put her down to bed. It's not that often that we get to do it, but thanks to helpful family, we get to enjoy it from time to time. Now someone who is reading this may think to themselves, "Wow, you make parenting seem like such a horrible thing." That thought couldn't be any further from the truth. Every smile, laughing fit, funny dance, or mannerism that you see them do that you know either you used to do, or still do and they must have picked up makes every moment worth it.
Just thought I would add a picture from yesterday. My daughter for the most part hates it when people play with her hair. She doesn't mind brushing, or someone rubbing or scratching her head, but is very picky about playing with the hair. Apparently, the people at our daycare are some sort of magicians because they manage to put her hair up in pigtails and other assorted styles and she seems completely content with it. I imagine that they do it when she is having her lunch/snack as she seems most passive about people messing with her when she is eating(she truly is my daughter). The picture below is her sitting on my knee with her hair up. She looked cute so we got a picture of it. Don't know why I am enclosing it, I guess I just like seeing a picture of the two of us.
Take the other night for example. I was sitting at the table in the living room eating some food(it doesn't matter what it was) and Elena was standing at the table eating and watching TV with me. This is a fairly common scene since she we don't go and sit at a dining table, and she loves to shovel a bit of food in her mouth, walk around or watch some TV, then come back to the food on the table. Anyways, back to my point. I noticed after a few bites that there seemed to be a pattern in what was going on to my left. Elena had her head turned slightly away from me, but was still watching me like a hawk out of the corner of her eye. I proceeded to do the same to see what she was up to. I noticed that as I would lift my fork to my mouth, she would almost exactly mimic my action with her food, and that she would chew as long as I did, swallow, and do the same when I would take a drink from my glass of milk. When I finally turned to face her and she realized she was caught, she just started laughing and did a small little dance with her shoulders that she does from time to time when she gets particularly excited.
All in all, it was a pretty nifty thing that most people without children will look at and go, "Who cares, that's nothing to get excited about." But parents know how special that is, especially at that young of an age. It's times like that you realize just how much your kids watch you and what you do, and just how much you influence who they are becoming. None of us are perfect, despite how much we might try to be. Although I always knew that I would have to watch how I speak and act around my child, that night it kinda drove the point home.
It makes me think of my parents. It's crazy because most people(and I am sure that my daughter will be a part of this group as she grows up) view their parents as these other-worldly fuddy-duddies who led somewhat plain lives and must have always been these relatively boring and predictable people. You look at the fact that when you are a teen, having fun with your friends and living it up, they are sitting at home watching TV and reading books and occasionally going out to the movies or dinner with each other. You tend to take away that your parents have a very poor social life, and are somewhat boring people, and must have always been. What you don't realize is, that your parents were just like you(not always) when you were young, but there came a time when they had to grow up.
Would your parents love to be able to go to work from 8-5 and then magically shut everything from work off at 5:01 and just do what they want all day. I would be willing to wager that most would. However, we don't. You have additional things to worry about, like what the family will eat that night for dinner, how is everything going with your children, what am I going to do at work tomorrow and later this week, how is my financial situation, etc. Even after all that, they still need to spend time with the spouse/children. It drags on a person, and at the end of the day, there isn't room left for "living it up" or "tearing up the town". Some parents might find that in their spare time, they want to go out and have a blast, but when I get those nice vignettes of personal time, I just want to relax and let my mind stop worrying about what is happening in my life for a while. To some people, this might make you look lazy or boring, but to you, it's what keeps you sane. It makes me appreciate what my parents and those around me had to sacrifice to make sure I came out reasonably well adjusted and sane.
Now, with all that said, I know that I have a wife who is extremely helpful. She does the laundry, takes care of most of the cleaning, and overall pulls more than her fair share of the work around the house. Even with all she does, parenting is tough. I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like raising a kid as a single parent. I truly have a ton of respect for those people. I know you guys/gals have to put up with a lot of crap, and sacrifice a lot of your personal time to make sure that your children come out ok.
When I was younger, I loved video games. I played a ton of them from just about every genre available to mankind. I played a ton, and took pride in just how good I was at games, and how quickly I could pick them up and be good at them. Even when I was married, I would play them and I still had a fair amount of time to hang out with the wife and watch our favorite TV shows when they came on, instead of now having to rely on a DVR. Any day of the week, I could call my wife on the phone and say, "Hey babe, let's go see a movie tonight" and when she agreed, that was all that needed to be planned. Nowadays, with a child, we have to find a sitter, feed the kid first, find a showtime that works around our sitter and gets us home early enough to bathe the baby and put her down to bed. It's not that often that we get to do it, but thanks to helpful family, we get to enjoy it from time to time. Now someone who is reading this may think to themselves, "Wow, you make parenting seem like such a horrible thing." That thought couldn't be any further from the truth. Every smile, laughing fit, funny dance, or mannerism that you see them do that you know either you used to do, or still do and they must have picked up makes every moment worth it.
Just thought I would add a picture from yesterday. My daughter for the most part hates it when people play with her hair. She doesn't mind brushing, or someone rubbing or scratching her head, but is very picky about playing with the hair. Apparently, the people at our daycare are some sort of magicians because they manage to put her hair up in pigtails and other assorted styles and she seems completely content with it. I imagine that they do it when she is having her lunch/snack as she seems most passive about people messing with her when she is eating(she truly is my daughter). The picture below is her sitting on my knee with her hair up. She looked cute so we got a picture of it. Don't know why I am enclosing it, I guess I just like seeing a picture of the two of us.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Firsties!!!!!!
Hey guys and gals. This is my first post to my blog. Although I am
an extreme technophile, I never really got into Facebook and Myspace.
Mainly because I just never had a need to explain what I ate for lunch
that day or how great of a pen I was writing with at work to all of my
friends. However, as time goes on, you begin to think of things that
are important to you and you decide that you want to put them out there
if for no other reason than that they are saved online and that in the
years ahead, you may live on through that material. This blog is a bit
misleading. The title says, "I am a lucky father". This is true. I
have a wonderful daughter named Elena who is almost a year and a half old(hopefully more children to follow) that makes
me laugh at all the weird little stuff she does. I enjoy everything about her and all the
time that I spend with her. Through her I have been kept young, but
also learned just how old I am, and how little time we have to share
ourselves with those around us. The reason why the blog title is
misleading is that I am also married, to a wonderful woman who I love
very much named Jamie. She is way too good for me and without her, I know I
wouldn't be nearly as happy and successful as I am today. She means the world to me, and is the person who keeps me grounded when I need it. So I am not
just a lucky father. I am a lucky husband as well.
I have a few reasons for writing this blog. First, I feel that by putting these words and experiences down on some sort of media for others to read that can be saved, I am somehow able to live on and communicate my life to others long after I am gone. Second, I want others, like my daughter(when she is old enough), and my wife to be able to read this and know exactly what I am taking away from our time together. Hopefully, years down the road my daughter will read this and say to herself, "Man, my dad really loved me and I am glad that he was there for me." I know I might not always post as diligently as I should, but I will try to do my best. Third, someone I don't even know may come across this and it may inspire them to spend more time with their family, or at least write it down. Self-reflection can really help you appreciate what you have, and help you realize what you want to do. And who knows, maybe someone will come across a problem that I have already dealt with and my insight will help them with their issues. That's just a bonus in my opinion.
With all that aside, I will start gathering pics, and putting up my thoughts on raising a child, the crazy stuff they do, and probably stuff non-related to kids as well. If you like what I write and want to toss me a good comment, I would appreciate it. My main reason for writing this isn't to entertain anyone but myself and my family, but if it helps you out, the encouragement would be more than welcome.
Either way, I hope you enjoy this.
I have a few reasons for writing this blog. First, I feel that by putting these words and experiences down on some sort of media for others to read that can be saved, I am somehow able to live on and communicate my life to others long after I am gone. Second, I want others, like my daughter(when she is old enough), and my wife to be able to read this and know exactly what I am taking away from our time together. Hopefully, years down the road my daughter will read this and say to herself, "Man, my dad really loved me and I am glad that he was there for me." I know I might not always post as diligently as I should, but I will try to do my best. Third, someone I don't even know may come across this and it may inspire them to spend more time with their family, or at least write it down. Self-reflection can really help you appreciate what you have, and help you realize what you want to do. And who knows, maybe someone will come across a problem that I have already dealt with and my insight will help them with their issues. That's just a bonus in my opinion.
With all that aside, I will start gathering pics, and putting up my thoughts on raising a child, the crazy stuff they do, and probably stuff non-related to kids as well. If you like what I write and want to toss me a good comment, I would appreciate it. My main reason for writing this isn't to entertain anyone but myself and my family, but if it helps you out, the encouragement would be more than welcome.
Either way, I hope you enjoy this.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)