Nostalgia: When the Future Wife Met Her Future Mother-In-Law (DUN DUN DUN!!)

My mother was always eager for me to fall in love.

Part of it is your typical mother wanting the best for her child, and part of it was my romantic escapades were the exact opposite of hers growing up.  Basically, I had none. Nana had a boyfriend from 5th grade onward!

Imagine all of the advice I used to get.

Now imagine a teenage boy who really doesn't want to hear it.

"No, Mom. I do like girls." The usual disclaimer. If the motherly advice continued, Nana would hear,"If you don't stop asking, I'm going to mail order a bride from Russia."

She loved to hear that.  "But Mike, she wouldn't be Christian!"

"I can pay extra for that. Maybe I"ll buy a pair: one to cook and one to clean!"

I never claimed I was a perfect child.

Shane's Expanding Vocabulary

Shane's vocabulary has grown! I don't know if it's from having tubes put in his ears or if it was just a coincidence of timing.

Shane's new words include "Go," "Nana," "Banana," "Whoa," and something that sounds like "Ah-Gee." I haven't figured out what that last word means, but he sure likes to say it. He's also pointing at letters and can say "A," "C," and "E" but it's random what name he assigns to what he points at. There are plenty of other words that he will try to say like "Chair," "Horse," and "Balloon" that I understand even if your typical passerby would not. Shane's approximation for "Kitties" will still drop some jaws if he were to say it in public.

The speech therapist has been visiting, as well. She comes on Friday and hangs out for an hour with Carrie and Shane in the morning. Carrie said that the therapist spent the first day asking a lot of questions and watching how she and Shane interacted. Then she offered some advice and assigned us homework. The next week she checked in and she did more interacting with Shane, but it was still a Shane and Carrie with suggestions sort of endeavor (or so I understand).

While there has been some progress since Shane started therapy, I don't think she's the source of the new sounds. She hasn't been working with Shane long enough, but now that things are in place and he's picking up sounds I hope I can be conversing with my son soon! (Or at least having a conversation that doesn't only involve Shane shouting the word "SEE!" and pointing).

The therapy will also be more effective once we start doing all the homework...

You'd think I'd be better at that as a teacher. We did 3 out of 4 things assigned so I guess that's a C.

If only politicians could get things right that often!

Unfortunate Speechisms #2

It's hysterical when your wife is playing "Horsey" with your son and he crawls off, turns around, points, and announces "HO!"

R's are hard to pronounce.

I nearly died laughing.

Carrie's eyes bugged.  "Our son says 'titties' and 'ho!' What kind of parents are we!?"

Then she started laughing, too.

The bad news is that the laughing is probably only going to encourage Shane's new name for Mama.

My reply?

"That's going on the blog!"

Resurrected: Whoa

I totally forgot.

On a whim, I remembered my actual login for my old journal. I knew I had some posts that I'd blocked from public consumption, but I didn't remember I started to post on my old livejournal again BEFORE I started this blog. The posts were all marked Private and aside from my old friend Kevin (who I need to call again) no one could really see them.

It's weird.

Has my writing changed that much from this blog? It has been going on for a couple of years, but still...

A lot of what I wrote I clearly wasn't planning for open posting. The writing style felt more like I was trying to remember events in a list sometimes than tell a story. There's one post about "I'M GOING TO BE A FATHER!" that was hilarious to read, but has a little TMI for the internet in my opinion. Maybe I'll go through and edit it and post it later.

Also, the editing on some of these old posts bothers me. I don't usually re-read before I post, but I would have thought spell-check was within my repertoire!

Here's a sample of a post I found. It came after my initial post about possibly being a parent when I knew the pregnancy was really real.

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It's official.  Carrie and I are going to be parents.  It's hard to describe how excited I am.  I came home and rushed to greet Carrie.  I was calling people on the way home from work and grinning big.  Bill and Igor were highly excited for me.  Matt called later all pumped up.  I joked multiple times that "I'm just glad I beat Patrick to it!" (Sorry, Patrick).  We were going to try and get people to gather at the Fortune House, but only Bill and Dan were available.  (It was DnD night and Igor had a class and possible midterm....lame.)

I've told the story many times today.  The story start with Carrie and I talked about having children in February or January.  I was the one who wanted to start trying for children around the year anniversary mark.  I think part of it was I was afraid if I didn't get started at some point, I'd just be too content with what I had to ever really rock the boat.  I'd been thinking about things, and I didn't want to be 47 when my first child first went to college.  I wanted to be younger and healthier so that I could play more sports and see my own grandkids one day.  I feel so blessed to have my family, and I want to start my family.  Carrie was more hesitant and wanting to wait a little longer.  However, she thought about things and soon became an ardent support of having kids. ASAP.  Igor phrased it as I "activated the want to have a baby gene" when we had the discussion.  I can't claim there's much science behind his assertion, but I don't particularly care.  Carrie went off of birth control and it was agreed that we'd try soon.  If you read my last post, you'd see more about what happens next.  

To skip a few beats, Carrie had an appointment to draw blood and test for pregnancy yesterday. The results were supposed to be given to us by noon.  I had my phone on at school so I could receive Carrie's text.  Things didn't go according to schedule.  At noon, Carrie called for the results.  The office was closed for lunch.  It stayed closed for lunch until the nurses returned an hour and a half later.  Could I have that job?  I worked straight through my off period and my lunch today at a two hour IEP meeting.  Hell, when I get a lunch it's 25 minutes and I work through most of them.   Still, It's hard to stay angry with them because Carrie got the results we were hoping at close to four.  I called to chat with her and share the joy while I was watching kids waiting for the late buses. I've spent so much time on the phones since, that I'm sure Stu is going to call me for the first time in his life.  Then he's going to tell me I"m over my minutes!

Carrie's sleeping on the couch as I write this.  I know she's just as eager as I am.  She passed out after we watched our DS9 episode and I went to work cleaning up her plates and tissues and things so I could run the dishwasher.  Jack is purring in my lap and I think I'm going to try to relax for a short while before heading up to bed.

G'night world, from a man predicting to be a father on December 11th.

So Ends A Long Couple of Weeks

It felt like we were bouncing from crisis to crisis for a while.

This weekend was a very nice way to recoup and get some fresh air. Carrie's friend, Genevieve, and her fiance, Chris, came by on Friday night. They watched Shane so Carrie and I could go out for the first time in a long time. We ended up walking the mall, going into a few stores, and enjoying a dinner together. We returned home to chat with Genevieve and Chris built a brick fort around one of our cats (The picture is on Carrie's Facebook).

Saturday, we enjoyed our first meal out as a family! I say "enjoyed" because Shane actually sat in his high-chair and ate with us! We went to a Noodles and Company. I order a mac and cheese since I knew it was something Shane would be interested in. There're pictures on Carrie's phone, but she's hoarding them.

Sunday, Nana and Pop took Shane for the night. Carrie and I went out to a Dogfish Head Alehouse. Dan always comes home from there bragging about how "EVERYTHING IS GOOD!" Sometimes, he brings home food and requires us to sample it before he'll eat the rest of it. I have to say, the steak-bomb sandwich blew my mind. I knew I was going to order it before Carrie asked me "Where are we going?"

The crises?

Well, Philippians 4:13.

Resurrected Post: Anesthesia Aphasia

Spring Break 2006

One of the real tricks to Spring Break is balancing out doing nothing and doing something. You are, also, required by law to sleep in as late as you can. This may be 3pm for some of you. For me, it was a glorious 10:00 AM. Sure, I really woke up at about 9, but my lard butt wasn't getting out of bed for anything. Anything short of one million dollars, a full breakfast, or brand new Red Ryder BB Gun, that is. We all have our prices....I'll make a list for those interested at some point.

The day started off nice and lazy. I found out one of my friends is hoping to become a mama-bear. Her choices of name were suspect, but congratulations to the little fart. Hatch something you're proud of! Afterward, I ended up running to Starbucks to meet up with Christine.

Things got a little interesting at that point. While Christine and I are catching up, I get a cell phone call from Mom. No big deal. I figure I'll just call her back in 5 minutes. 5 minutes later, my phone is ringing again. Uh oh...better pick that thing up like it's hot.

"Hello?"

"Mike. I need your help with your brother. He's being TERRIBLE. Where are you?"

"Starbucks with an old friend."

"I'll be right there."

Normally, everyone who knows me would assume that my Mom was talking about my youngest brother, Patrick. Not so! She's speaking of Matthew. Matt was lucky enough to get his wisdom teeth pulled out today. That means he got to get doped up with a bit of general anesthesia as well. Matt's a hand full of fun when he's cognizant, but when he's tripping daisies he's apparently too much for my mom to handle! She pulled up in front of Starbucks and asked me to follow her home.

What exactly did Matt do to our poor mother? Here are the highlights.

1. Matt bit a nurse after clearly being asked not to.
2. Nature called and Matt tried to take it all out in front of the doctor and nurses. (Almost successfully)
3. He was throwing his sandals around the surgeon's office.
4. He played hide and go seek with his sandals in the surgeon's office.
5. There were many cartwheels through the parking lot
6. Car doors were attempted to be opened while the vehicle was in motion.
7. Matt thought he was a siamese twin attached to Mom's hip.
8. Water was splashed over Mom to the chorus of "A2 A2! I sank your battleship!"
9. A pair of socks were loaded with ice and worn as bunny ears.

Matt's memory apparently started kicking in around number 6 or so. God bless my annoying as hell  to Mom yet still lovable brother!

Riding in Cars with Toddlers

I feel a little guilty whenever I strap my son into a car seat and I know it's rush hour.

Shane had to sit through a 53 minute drive home from my parents' house today.

My fondest hope is that my son takes a nap whenever traffic is bad. He has a bad habit of struggling to stay awake far longer than he should. Shane enjoys the car ride at first, but quickly starts to lose interest (especially if traffic hits a standstill and there's no construction vehicles to point out).

Here's where I start to feel guilty.

When Shane starts to fuss, I have two options: 1) I try to calm him down, or 2) I ignore him.

If I try to calm Shane down with a quiet voice, look at him, or try to hand him toys or kick my hand he starts to get louder. If I ignore him, he starts to look out the window. If I try to calm him down, he will not sleep. If I ignore him, he falls off to sleep about half the time (depends on how long he napped and the time of day as well). If Shane's really upset I sing. This calms him down as long as my voice holds up, but when I stop....the crying starts. Then I either ignore him and he falls asleep, or we get to our destination.

Sometimes, the best thing I can do is ignore my son when he's fussy in the car. Do you see where the guilt comes from?

I'm seriously thinking about getting a portable TV. It could have the added benefit of being attached to the seatback in front of him, so that Shane can't throw it like his books. That way my son isn't stuck strapped in for an hour long journey in traffic.  He shouldn't have to deal with that until he's an adult!

Heck, I don't think adults should have to deal with that, but I'm not in charge. Feel free to vote for me in the upcoming election if you agree.

Proportions

Carrie called me at work to let me know there was a situation. She had to go see a doctor and I told her I would take care of Shane. I called Pop and gave him a 30 minute eta (the usual).

It took me 1 hour and 20 minutes to drive 17 miles today.  I knew my trip was going to be bad when the two motorcycle cops came pushing along the jersey wall to escort a tow truck through gridlock.

80 minutes / 17 miles = 60 minutes / x miles

1020 = 80x

1020/80 = 80x/80

12.75 = x

That's an average rate of travel at 12.75 miles per hour.

Who says you can't learn anything useful in middle school?  Math like that is one way I keep myself entertained when I've run out of license plates and bumper stickers to read. On long road trips, I try to calculate distance per minute, per 5 minutes, per 10 minutes.....etc etc. It's not high level math, but it's enough to keep my brain from turning off.

It only took me 50 minutes to drive 20 miles home with Shane, so that was an improvement. We pulled up at 7 PM.

Long day, but there was only an hour and a half or so of child care before Shane went to bed.

There are many things I love about the area I live in, but the traffic is not one of them. It's a bit of a rat race.

My commute in?

6 miles in under 15 minutes. The drive home makes those 6 miles transform into a 20-30 minute trip on average with 35 minutes being my upper extreme so far.

Traffic flows in mysterious ways. I'm a lucky son of a ______ by this area's standards.

My wanderlust sometimes calls me to look at traveling to other areas, but my roots are deep. My school system is great for a public school system (good for my job and for Shane one day), I have family in the general area (which includes the Nana-Pop Day Care Center), and I like that there are hills and trees. Plus, there's about any kind of restaurant and people from all sorts of interesting places living in this area. I want my son to grow up with an open mind. He tried pho for the first time with Genevieve and Carrie yesterday.

That's it for tonight.

Muay Thai Three

Carrie and I switched at the last minute and I went to Muay Thai on Monday. We spent most of the class working on the basic stance, footwork, and an advancing 1-2.

The hardest part for me? Keeping my toes and knees pointed outward and not bending my knees too deeply.

It's one of those stupidly small things that makes a big difference.

In wrestling, the whole object way to stay low and spread your base for balance. You had to be ready to sprawl at a moment's notice if your opponent came in on you. In Muay Thai, the coach keeps yelling "Stand tall!" It's the opposite of what my muscles are trying to remember to do.

The knee being turned outwards is another oddity for me. The whole point is to be able to defend yourself from leg kicks. My foot keeps turning so that it's pointing forward. I feel like I'm devoting a large part of my conscious thought to keeping that foot and knee turned outward enough and my hips square that it's hard to complete the necessary 1-2 motions fluidly. It's something I'm going to have to drill on my own if I don't want to go back to square one in class each week. My body is ingrained with a different pattern and I need the Muay Thai pattern to make learning new moves easy and effective.

Shorter class = Shorter update.

Night for now!

What are "Resurrected Posts?"

Do you remember when I said the internet is forever?

On a whim, I looked up my old livejournal. It still exists.

Every now and then I think I'll post something from way back when. It's fun and easy and works out great for when I want to be lazy. The first one I posted up was a "What will I do with this live journal post?" which I found funny since I'm doing the whole blogging bit again years later. Only now, I went through graduate school, got married, have a kid, and I'm not living in my parent's basement anymore.

Or maybe it's only amusing to me. It's like a little time warp, but it's also funny to see the similarities in my current writing.

The next time I post a resurrected post it'll be about the time Nana's rear window exploded!*



Disclaimer* - Or not. I reserve the right to change my mind whenever I want**

Disclaimer** - Or at least whenever I think I can get away with it.