Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Husbandly Duty

Okay, so I have done my husbandly duty. No, get your mind out of the gutter. I finally took my wife to see "New Moon." All in all, it was decent. I don't think that Kristen and Robert can act very well (but in all fairness, they do a better job than I would). And of course, both "Edward" and "Jacob" spent half of the movie with their shirts off, which was good for the women at the movie. Besides the bad acting of Kristen/Bella, where she spent almost all of the movie crying over her "one true love," I did get to see "Alice" who is just adorable.

Which brings me to the following. I was one of 5 guys in the theater. No problem. The problem was behind us. We had to deal with three girls talking through the first half of the movie. Also, a girl almost directly behind us was coughing and all other things associated with a bad cold directly behind me. And all I could think about was "go home - you are going to make us healthy ones sick." Oh, and Merry Christmas.

Kellie did take the babysitter home and I was cleaning up. There was a chair from the playroom in the living room. I picked up the blanket and out fell handcuffs. And there was rope tied around the chair. I am not sure exactly what happened but everyone seemed happy so I am not going to ask.

The beagles are getting new collars for Christmas. And, they got rawhide chews, of which they are already working on. Homer eats his right away. Kyra hides it. This time, we thought it was under the Christmas tree but no, she hid it in our bed under the pillows. Alrighty then.

Tomorrow, Christmas Eve, 2009, the Senate votes on health care reform. All I can say is 1) everyone agrees that it needs to happen and 2) hopefully the government hasn't screwed it up too bad.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Growth

It seems like my life has been on hold for the past four months. Well, a little bit longer, but really just this past semester. Yes, I work full time, I go the kids events, I am involved with my family (which I am eternally grateful for - I know several fathers/mothers that are not involved and while that is bad for the child, it is also bad for the parent. How does that old song go, Cats in the cradle and the silver spoon, little boy blue and the man on the moon. When you coming home dad/son, I don't know when, but we'll get together then). I have turned in my senior project, ready to turn in my last writing class assignment and I have one final left before I have a month off. I can't help but hear my wife in my head, from the beginning of the semester, "are you sure you should take three classes and not just two?" She was right. I should have taken two. But, I am almost through it. All I need are C's in the classes but I should do better. Who knows, maybe I will be taking more than one class next semester....

So, I am starting to feel normal now. Yes, a relative term as what is normal for me is not normal for anyone else. I have a mess on my desk that I need to clean up. I put up my white tree with purple lights and ornaments in the front window for all to see as they drive up the street. We went minimalism on the lights this year outside. Just three strands of C9's on the eave of the house. I will start soon on finishing up the Christmas gift I started making several years ago for my family. They are getting it this year and I hope they like it.

All this leads me to the fact that I popped in on my Sister-In-Law's blog this evening. I can't believe that they have been married 29 years. And although I lived through it, I thoroughly enjoyed their story that she posted. I suggest to all that you jump over and read it. Maybe I am pretty sappy but I love stories about how married people met. And you know, I have never heard my brother's side of the story. Maybe I will ask when I am at their house this Christmas. He is a man a few words.

She also posted on what was probably her annual review and it gave me pause. After dinner this evening (french onion tartlets and celery with pimento cheese), Kellie and I spoke about how our lives have changed, specifically in relation to my work. Her exact comment - "I am so glad you didn't go to work for ......" and I had to agree. Had I gone to work for them, I never would have grown like I did. I never would have gone back to school to get my degree. I also would never have become more technically proficient. I also would not have grown as a person as I have in the past several years. And I never would have met the wonderful people that I have in the past 36 months. My life is much fuller now than it was several years ago and for that, I am grateful.

You see, I am one of these people that believe that things happen for a reason. We just don't always happen to know what the reason is at the time. Eventually, we will find out. "In due time" as they say. As my dermatologist was cutting a chunk of flesh out of my face, we were discussing Captain Chesley Sullenberger who spent his entire life preparing for that one fateful flight that did not end as it was scheduled to but did end as it was supposed to (with no loss of life). I would have to say that I believe he changed everyone's life that day.

There are few hero's in life and as you get older, realize that there are fewer still. Although I cannot say that I am glad about what the Wood's family is currently going through, I would like to take the opportunity to point out that nobody is perfect, no matter what the appearance happens to be.

One think I have come to know is that I hate doing nothing. I consistently need to feel challenged, whether I look like it or not. Now don't get me wrong and don't take it personal. Should I have the winning lottery numbers dump in my lap I will take it and then follow thru on my promise to my boss twice a week that I am retiring on Monday/Thursday. Just don't ever feel that I will stop doing something.

With that, I am off to watch the news and prepare for yet another week of challenges.