Monthly Update

so, as i thought i might, i've let myself down regarding updating the blog more often. no one's surprised, so we'll move on....

we're moving steadily toward parenthood, and it's a little scary. lol just not knowing exactly what it's going to be like and how we're going to be as parents, but i think that all new parents feel that way, and you just learn as you go. there's no doubt that Olivia will be showered with love at every chance, and that we'll give her the support and encouragement she needs. it's going to be an adventure, for sure! we also just completed our "special delivery" class this past weekend, which went well and answered some questions regarding natural vs. medicated vs. c-section births. toni is still planning on going completely natural but knows that she may change her mind once things get going. we're slowly but surely getting the nursery and other things done around the house but we've got a ways to go yet. luckily Olivia won't be in the nursery right away anyway, so we've still got some time.

made a few more upgrades to the Jeep as well. Got some bright LED bulbs for the interior as well as the license plate:





License Plate comparison:

License Plate final:

The photos don't do them justice - these things are BRIGHT, especially at night!

I also found out about a guy on ebay who sells decals you can put into the "Compass" stamped in the rear bumper. they come in a variety of colors, several of which also offer "reflective" so i opted for the "white reflective" ones since our jeep is white though i tried to get toni to go for a contrasting color to make it pop even more... Anyway when they came in they were more of a silver color when just looking at them, which i confirmed with the seller was correct. i was a little put out by this at first, but once i got them on, you can't tell as much and it looks really good. Here are some installation pics:

Before

Halfway done:

Finished (no flash):

Full View, Day, No Flash:

Full View, Day, With Flash:

Full View, Night, With Flash:


Toni drove behind me the other night and said it looks really good, so i'm happy with the looks as well as the added safety at night. And for only $11 shipped (from Canada) it's hard to beat!

That's all for now folks!

Birthday Bash and Jeep upgrades (kinda)

First off, I know it's been about a month since my last post. I know. I'm sure there are some excuses I could use to some extent, but honestly I'm just not that concerned about it at this time. Though I will say that I (again) am going to try to post more regularly. I know you're laughing on the inside, too.

Had an AMAZING rock star karaoke birthday bash in Bham this past weekend - all I can say is WOW! Such a great time! Toni did such an amazing job putting it all together and everyone got into it, which made it even better. By far one of the best birthday parties I've ever experienced. We're not sure it could ever be topped, so we may end up doing a sequel for my 40th! lol I'll be sure to post more info with pics as soon as we get them all compiled. And tomorrow, I'll officially be in my thirties....and have a baby by the end of the year! 2009 is definitely a great year!

On to other news: as I posted last time, we got a new 09 Jeep Compass and have been enjoying it thus far. I've always been into lights (just like the look of the whiter, higher temp waves rather than the somewhat dingy looking regular halogen), so I invested in some Silverstar bulbs for the fog lights. Here's a look mid-install (Silverstar bulb is on the right, stock on the left):



Pretty decent difference for me from the outside (you can see the higher temp range on the ground as the Silverstar is noticeably whiter), and from the inside the visual range immediately in front of the vehicle seems to be much better. Here's a shot with both fogs installed and headlights on:



Last night I also installed Silverstar bulbs in the headlights, but the images didn't turn out great. They seem to be brighter looking out, but looking at them head on, you don't see as much of a difference as with the fog lights, but I'm still happy with them, especially for the price I got them for.

I just ordered some LED bulbs for the interior and license plate and reverse lights, which I'm really excited about (what a dork, right?). I'll be sure to post pics of the before and after as soon as they come in, hopefully this week. I also plan on putting in (not sure if I'll do it myself yet, or get the dealer to do it) a Cold Air Intake by either K&N or Mopar (which is made by K&N from what I understand, but is blue instead of red and may go over better for the warranty). That may be the extent of my upgrades for this vehicle, but we'll see.

Well, until next time!

What do we have for them Johnny?

It's a brand new 2009 Jeep Compass!

As some of you are aware, the government was offering (and may still be, it's kind of up in the air now) the Cash for Clunkers/CARS program, where you could get between $3500 to $4500 for your "clunker" (a vehicle that gets a combined 18 MPG or less) to be used towards a new car. Well, we so happened to have such a vehicle (a 2000 Montero Sport - 17 MPG). We were originally planning to do this in September (the program was slated to run through November 1st or until the money ran out) but when we started seeing articles online last week about how they thought they were already out of money after 4 days and may be suspending the program, we knew we had to make a move.

Knowing this was coming up, i've been looking around at affordable fuel-efficient SUVs since we've got the new addition to the family on the way. For a while I wanted the Nissan Rogue which was pretty nice looking and would get the job done.

Then last week my wife pointed out an ad for the 2010 Chevy Equinox . I'm not really an American car kind of guy, but this one really did a number on me. Not only was it sharp looking, it got 22/32 MPG with great cargo space, etc. Granted, it was going to be several grand more expensive due to adding the touch-screen navigation and rear entertainment (dual seat-mounted DVD screens) for the kiddie, but it was still pretty affordable considering the $4500 we'd get. Well, we sorely underestimated not only the popularity of the CARS program in general, but also that of this new vehicle. We called or visited all of the dealerships around town, all but one of them didn't have a single Equinox on the lot. One we called said they had just gotten one off the truck and we said "We're on our way!". Thirty minutes later, we walk in and the guy says "Sorry, I just found out that my boss already sold it." Wow. I won't get into what else he did to piss us off, but let me just say that i may not have purchased from this guy regardless.

Well, after all this i'm pretty bummed out since i don't really want to settle for something else after falling in love with this ride. So finally we go out to eat and we're talking about what we're gonna do, and we start talking about the possibility of selling my wife's Beetle. She loves her car, and it's been a good one for the past 3 years, but the more we thought about trying to get a car seat in and out of it, the more we realized we'd need to get something else for her. Since she's not as particular as I am, I brought up the Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge matching deal we'd seen advertised. We knew they had a few cars that were relatively cheap that we could get for her that would give her the additional room she would need. We ended up thinking the Jeep Patriot would be pretty good, especially after taking $8000 off the price.

We headed to the Jeep dealership first thing Saturday. Within 15 seconds we find out they don't have ANY Patriots on the lot. We're then like, "What about the Liberty? Does it qualify?" The guy (Skip is his name, good guy) takes us over to one and we take it for a spin. Drives great, but I can't help thinking about the V6 engine it has and the fact that the combined MPG on the sticker was 18, only one more than my "clunker". So we get back and I ask him to double-check it in the system to see if it qualifies, cause if not we're not interested. Sure enough, it's a no go.

While he's checking, I notice a white Compass on the floor. Now, to give some background, about a year or so ago, we looked at the Compass, even test drove it, and HATED the interior. It was all monotone and looked like cheap plastic. Pretty terrible. So when I saw one on the floor, I didn't really think much of it until I poked my head in. Apparently they had revamped the interior for 2009. It was pretty decent now. I called Toni over and the more we looked at it, the more we liked it again. So we took one for a spin, liked the drive, and said "We'll take the white one on the showroom floor." It has a sunroof, the upgraded sound system, fog lights, a year of Sirius satellite radio included and a few other options. It's not as decked out as the Limited edition we test drove, but it's good.

Other than having to wait quite a while to get in to see the finance guy, the whole process was extremely smooth (I had my doubts, especially about the government part of the deal). We're even happier knowing that the CARS program may not make it much longer, so we feel we made a good decision doing this earlier than planned. Now we can put up Toni's car at our leisure, hopefully get top dollar for it, and put a nice chunk down on an Equinox whenever they become more readily available, maybe even later this year. Here are a few photos of our new ride:

I haven't forgotten you, Blog

It’s hard to believe, I know, but I swear I haven’t forgotten you, blog. Got a little off track after (and before) vacation, which is really no excuse, but regardless I am back and fully intend on getting back in the rhythm of posting on a regular basis. Does that mean you won’t see another blog post like this? Probably not. But at least I’m willing to admit it.

Now, on to the show!

We had a wonderful time at the beach in Cape San Blas at the beginning of July. It was great to be with family and just hang out and relax. We enjoyed some pool time, some beach time, some fishing and boating, some great meals and just all around good times. We did get some pretty heavy rain several days, which bummed us out at the time, but I think that it was actually good since it let us just hang out together in the house playing board games and reading or whatnot. Seems like so many times on vacation you feel like you HAVE to go and do something down at the beach or whatever since you’re there, but the rain made us take it easy on those days. We’re already thinking about going back next year, and it’ll be so much more of a trip since we’ll have our little one with us. Which brings me to our other news…

We let everyone know last week that we found out that we will be having a GIRL! Say hello to the still-in-progress Olivia Marie:


It’s still pretty unreal, and I’ve half convinced myself that they got it wrong since I said from the beginning it was a girl, but now it’s really starting to sink in! We went to Babies R Us and got our registry filled out this past Friday. We had been in there a couple times before, but let me just say that that place is overwhelming! It’s hard to believe that babies have been born and raised without ever experiencing a forehead thermometer or a spoon that turns white if the food is too hot. It’s hard to comprehend how parents did it without all of these technological wonders, but I’m just glad we’re where we are now so Toni and I can benefit from them! But even with these great gadgets, it’s still quite overwhelming to think that in just a few short months, we’ll be solely responsible for the life of another human being during it’s most fragile and malleable state. Crazy! I know we’ll be great parents, giving our daughter the love, interaction and direction she needs to become a wonderful, caring woman. There’s no rush though! We’ll enjoy and cherish (and record in some fashion) every moment of her life as she grows so we don’t have to look back and wish we’d paid more attention, but even then I know we’ll do it still since Time seems to always one-up us right before our eyes. We’re sure gonna try though. :)

Belated updates

It's been too long since my last post. The whole weight-loss endeavor didn’t go as well as planned. I think lost some inches (wow that sounds really girly…) but no real weight, which kinda sucks but I guess it's better than nothing. I didn’t feel like The Blob at the beach this past weekend, so that counts for something as well.

Speaking of the beach, Toni and I will be heading to Cape San Blas this Thursday after work. Actually, we’ll hit Jacksonville Thursday evening, then head to Apalachicola Friday, then head to Cape San Blas Saturday and will be there through the following Saturday with Toni’s brother and sister and their families, and Toni’s parents. It’s gonna be AWESOME! There will be lots of relaxing, a couple of boat trips, some tubing and other various water sports and whatever else strikes our fancy. We are REALLY looking forward to it! I’m sure we’ll be posting lots of pics on Facebook, etc.

In other news, the pregnancy is trucking along. Unfortunately Toni is still nauseated most every day, which really sucks. We keep hoping that it’ll go away any day now. Other than that everything is good. I love seeing her belly get bigger, and can’t wait till it’s huge! :) She’s not quite so keen on that though, but it’s such a joyous thing to behold. We’ll find out the gender on July 22nd which we’re both really excited about. We’ll finally be able to move forward with the nursery, registry and so many other things, which will be nice. Lots to do before the arrival! :)

It’s such an amazing experience, and I can’t wait to meet our child in December.

battle of the bulge: first week results, part one UPDATE

Well, so far not so good. I really felt like I was making decent progress, getting in some good workouts and trying to eat better food and portions (though I did go overboard at my sister-in-law’s birthday party on Sunday, the BBQ was just SO good…) but it looks like I haven’t made any progress. As of this morning, I weigh EXACTLY the same as I did when I started. I’m going to weigh again tomorrow just to see if there’s any change since technically that would be a full week, but I’m not holding my breath, though I do plan on doing really well today both food and exercise wise to try to counteract yesterday's excess. I’ve also started doing planks in addition to my crunches to help with the abdominal area. Will post again on the morrow…

UPDATE: Ok, so I ended up losing 2 pounds last week...whew! now i'm pushing for 4 this week to get me caught back up to my goal. been eating a lot of salads so far, doing a lot of planks and crunches, and have had one really hard workout. gonna get in at least one more hard workout session and one or two lighter ones. will post more next week!

battle of the bulge: the beginning

Ok, so like many Americans these days, I need to lose some weight, I’d say about 15 or 20 pounds, though I’d be happy with 10 to start. I’ve been kinda sorta half-heartedly “dieting” for a few months now, surprisingly with little success. That’s a joke. I know I haven’t been committed to the effort, so I’ve really only maintained my current weight, which isn’t a bad thing, just not what I was going for. Now with our beach vacation coming up at the end of June, I realize it’s time to get serious if I’m going to take my shirt off in front of people other than my wife (I can’t do anything about my albino-like skin tone, but if I can look more like a slightly flubby vampire instead of a bloated nightmare creature from the deep, I’ll be happy). Don’t get me wrong – I’m not obese by any means, but like many men my age, I have an ever-growing problem in the gut area.

I’ve always relied on Weight Watchers (not the meetings, etc., just the tools and methodology) for my dieting phases (my typical modus operandi is lose the weight then do ok on my own until I realize that the previously shed pounds have insidiously crept back onto my torso, rinse and repeat). What I realized from this past “effort” (I use that term in the loosest possible way – I’m not trying to kid myself) is that dieting alone, which worked well for me in the past (towards the end of college I lost 25 pounds doing WW with no real exercise) no longer holds up against the ever-increasing inefficiency of my body (i.e. I’m getting old). So now I have to diet and get serious about exercising on a regular basis as well, which I know I need to do anyway, which I am, you don’t have to tell me, so get off my back!

Sorry. Anyway, I will be posting my progress (no pics though, I will spare you that much at least) as we go. Again, my bottom-rung goal is to lose 10 pounds, which should be feasible in a month (I honestly don’t know what the potential weight-loss cap during a month is, but I can tell you that I won’t be wearing one of those shiny sweat suits or sleeping in a sauna, so 10 pounds sounds ok). If I can lose more than that without going to extreme measures, that’s cool. Hopefully knowing that I will be posting the info here will keep my focused, though I can tell you that I can already feel that I am truly determined this time. Of course, my wife will say “that’s what you said last time” which is true, but I mean it this time, just like I did last time. But it really is for real this time. But I said that last time too, so you’ll just have to take my word for it I guess. Either way, I’m gonna do it, so look for the Battle of the Bulge update next week!

general updates and other stuff

Well, I finally sorted out my side of the closet, meaning I went through all of my clothes and created a Goodwill pile; stored all of the winter stuff and took out the summer clothes; reorganized a couple of shelves that were out of control, and generally straightened the area up a bit. It’s looking pretty decent in there now, though we still need to get a new hamper, and figure out a new place to put it if possible.

We got pretty close to actually going into the attic last weekend, but it never happened, and now probably won’t happen for another few weeks due to my wife traveling, etc. Unless I did it myself, but I’m not sure I’m to be trusted with such a task on my own – there’s no telling if I’ll go overboard or not, unless there are explicit written instructions, and even then it’s a toss up.

My grass is fairing well, though since I have to wait to cut the new grass, the rest of the yard is getting pretty “full” so to speak. I guess I could trim it up with the weed-eater, but I like to think I’m giving the grass a chance to choke out the weeds. I’ll probably be able to cut it next week sometime.

What else? Well, I’ve got the ole gears turning regarding possibly starting to really write again, and maybe even trying to publish and sell some of my poems and short stories through lulu.com. It definitely couldn’t hurt, and I think the idea of making even a few dollars would help my drive and motivation a bit. I’ll keep you posted on that front as it progresses.

Everything’s good in general. Toni (my wife) is still pretty nauseated most of the day, everyday, so we’re hoping that goes away sometime soon. I hate that she feels so miserable, and there’s not much I can do for her, though I do make myself readily available to her for whatever she may happen to need. I’ve also become convinced that we’re going to have a girl – I don’t really know why, but there it is. And I believe Toni’s now convinced it’s a boy, so how’s that for a flip? Either way, it’s gonna be great! Well, till next time…take care!

update: dogs and yard

As an update to the two posts prior to the baby announcement (I know you’ve been dying to know), I wanted to pass along that our dogs are doing very well out in the house by themselves. So well in fact that we are discussing the permanent removal of their large crate that has taken up a nice piece of corner real estate in our bedroom for over three years. I’m quite proud of both of them for not destroying the house, though let's face it, Kinsley was the only real threat. Little Bit just likes to curl up on something soft and snooze.

My quest to subdue the backyard is moving along nicely as well. The dominant weeds have been reasonably quelled and my grass seed is starting to sprout, so things are looking good. I also took it upon myself to finally, after at least a year (I’m telling myself that it hasn’t been three years, but I’m not really sure), remove the numerous dirt-filled plant containers that have been sitting along the side of the yard. Two of these actually had what appeared to be small trees growing happily in their snug confines. Fare thee well, weed-trees, your days in the sun have come to an end! As far as our other quests involving the attic or closet are concerned, we are still holding out for the right time to really dig in. This weekend is a possibility. Yeah, we’ll see…

we're having a baby!

That’s right – as some of you already know, my wife and I are expecting our first child! She’s a little over 2 months along now, and we couldn’t be more excited! We saw it for the first time the other day, and were able to hear the heartbeat. Absolutely AMAZING. We already feel so much love for this tiny thing growing in her abdomen, and it’s crazy to think that it will be a little person by the end of the year!! Of course, we’ve both been battling the common sensations of not feeling prepared to be responsible for another human life like this, but I think that comes with the territory, and we’ll learn and adapt as we go along, just like every other set of parents with their first child. It's probably no surprise that I’m hoping for a boy, but I really don’t care either way. The idea of a boy is nice just for the sake of a little balance (to give you some perspective, in our house it’s me with my wife and our two female dogs, and my sister-in-law’s family of three girls who live about 10 minutes away), and I know that my brother-in-law Scott would appreciate having another guy around as well, plus just the thought of those father/son things is nice, though I am aware that I am somewhat ill-equipped to provide some of the “man lessons” (home improvement, car, etc.) that will be needed. But I guess that’s what Grandpa’s are for. Then the other side of me loves the thought of a little girl, who I know will have me wrapped around her pinky instantly. Of course my wife is all for a girl to do all those wonderful girl things with, which I appreciate. Like I said, either is a blessing to us, and I simply can’t wait to shower our child with all of the love I have to give.

let loose the dogs...

Today we (or really "I" since it was my grand idea, and therefore my hide if it doesn't work out) are taking a huge chance...we are letting our dogs have free reign of the house while we're at work, as an experiment. Generally, due to the somewhat destructive nature of one of our beloved pets, we keep them in a kennel together during the day, letting them out during lunch. As I was watching TV in bed last night, it popped into my head that perhaps they could handle being alone in the house. This thought stemmed from when I work in the yard for long stretches and my wife isn't home, and I let the dogs inside while I continue working. I may not go back inside for two or three hours, allowing them to do whatever they want. And I realized that they hadn't destroyed anything (to our knowledge, which I guess is as good as not) during those periods, so it should stand to reason that they would react the same way during the work day. Or at least I hope. The increased amount of time does worry me.

We did take some precautions though. We made sure to remove everything from their reach that may look even remotely appetizing to the bored canine palate, closed the doors to the bathrooms (where their most-prized delicacy, tissue paper, is readily available) as well as the study and upstairs, and filled their Kongs with an abundance of not-easily-attainable treats to keep them busy.

Now we simply wait to go home for lunch and hope that it doesn't resemble a disaster zone.

I really hope it works out since neither of us likes the thought of them being cooped up all day. And it should help them release their energy a bit more so that they're not quite so crazy in the evenings. We'll see soon enough.

If anyone besides my wife reads this (thanks hon!), keep your fingers crossed for us!

mundane quests of the homeowner

I’ve been joking with my wife about putting together a list of things we need to work on now that it’s somewhat/kinda Spring. Well, I’m putting it down in writing baby!

My first and probably most perilous quest of the Spring: whipping our small but out-of-control backyard into shape! It’s absolutely ridiculous how bad it’s gotten, especially in the last couple of weeks with all of the rain. The weeds are taking over the entire yard and it makes me cringe each day when I feed our dogs. But I will not let it get the best of me! I am master of my domain and will not be pushed around by vegetation! Here’s a list of our other Spring Quests:

1. Vege-ruination!* – defeat the weeds and overall ugliness of the backyard so as to not shame the entire neighborhood.

2. Attic of the Disorganization! – we shall enter and quell the rampant disorganization in the attic, making sure to use labeled plastic containers so we can actually find what we’re looking for in a reasonable amount of time.

3. In the Closet… - we have a fairly decent-sized closet that is full of old clothes (primarily mine) that need to find their way to Goodwill, then what’s left needs to be properly sorted so that I am not overwhelmed with despair each morning when I’m unable to find anything worthwhile to wear.

I’m sure there will be more amazing and dangerous quests to come, but this is a good starting point. I know we'll feel so much more at ease once these things are done!

* UPDATE: the weeds have been conquered! Hopefully the grass will now grow strong again due to copious fertilization. Also added weed-blocking fabric and pine straw to the planting areas.

forced acquisition of new tastes

First, let me say that it was in no way intentional that I used the word “taste” in the titles of my first two posts. Now, let’s continue…

I’m not sure if it’s odd or not, but I’ve realized over the years that I occasionally force myself to acquire new tastes. What I mean is, there is something that I don’t particularly like, but for whatever reason, I decide that I should like it, so I then set out on a mission to do just that. There are two are two such missions that come readily to mind (though I wonder if I’ll find more if I dig a bit deeper): coffee and (good) beer.

Coffee was probably the bigger hurdle. I never drank coffee in college. I absolutely abhorred it, but if I needed to drink some, I would pull a “want some coffee with your creamer?” move. Not pretty. Anyway, several years later, I got it in my head that I wanted to actually like coffee. As I think back on it, I guess it stemmed from books or movies where the character(s) would order it black – it just seemed cooler or something. So I made it my mission to be the same. I’ll admit it was pretty brutal at first. It just seemed so bitter. But as time passed, I grew to enjoy it, especially when I started exercising a little more discrimination in my coffee selection. I eventually even moved into espresso after a while, which I love now (the Americano is a great in-between drink). I don’t drink my coffee black all of the time (usually I enjoy one Splenda packet), but I make sure to go straight up every now and then to remind myself how great it is in its “natural” state as well.

I first started drinking beer in college, where it became one of the food groups for a while. I didn’t like it at first, but eventually got used to it enough that I could drink it without cringing. That’s actually saying a lot since, in college, it was always whatever was cheapest, which ended up being Natural Light most of the time (Bud Light was “premium” back then, and Guinness was like coffee beer). Once I entered the real world and actually had money in my pockets, I figured it was time to man up and get into the good stuff. I think I targeted Guinness first since it kind of tied into my coffee mission, and would represent one of the bigger challenges. It didn’t take long for me to see the error of my college ways, and now you won’t ever find what I call the “plain” stuff in my house (though I will drink it if that’s all there is). Don’t get me wrong, the really mainstream beers (Bud, Miller, Coors) aren’t terrible, I just know that there are so many other good ones still untried. Also, there are other domestics that are way better (Yuengling, Sam Adams, Magic Hat). One thing I absolutely love to do is go to our Total Wine & More and pick out a six-pack of singles, pulling whatever looks good and different. There have been some great ones in the mix (Leffe, Ommegang, Peroni) and others that I didn’t enjoy so much (I’ve found that I don’t like most IPAs, or many beers with a high IBU, except for stouts and the like). I like to share my beer-ventures with family and friends whenever I can, letting them know if I found something I really liked so they can try it out. Some don’t really want to budge away from what they like, which is perfectly fine, and others will try different ones, but won’t really pursue it after that. I will say that I did get my brother-in-law Marc hooked on Yuengling. He had never heard of it before I brought some over, so it was good to spread the love, so to speak.

One of my next endeavors may be scotch, though I haven’t really thrown myself into it as a true “mission” since I’m not a huge liquor drinker. I try to drink it in those situations where it is available, the mood is right and price isn’t an issue, but it hasn’t grown on me yet. We’ll see how it goes, but I’m not making any promises.

the sharp taste of imaginary memories

I figured I would start my blog off with a post that sheds some light on me, personally. Here goes:

Anyone who knows me well knows that I do not recall a great deal about my early childhood. I’m not sure why this is, but I simply don’t have many memories of that time period, or at least memories of specific events or occurrences. I can recall generalities including the house and neighborhood I grew up in, etc., but for some reason some events have simply slipped away from me. Nothing traumatic or anything, just normal occurrences that my sister or parents will mention and I simply can’t seem to dredge up a substantial recollection.

One running joke between us started during one such conversation, when I brought up two memories I could recall with ease, but was soon informed that they were indeed complete fabrications. I understand it’s not completely unheard of for a child to have a dream which they subconsciously transform into reality, but this still came as something of a shock at the time, particularly for one of them which I was absolutely sure actually happened. The other, upon re-examination, wasn’t so hard to give up as wishful thinking.

This more easily discarded remembrance took place in the backyard of my grandfather’s home in Panama City, Florida. He lived right on the bay, so I would always walk the wall with a net, catching all sorts of sea creatures to pass the time. We would even occasionally see dolphins or porpoises frolicking about, which was always fun. However, the memory I had was of seeing a killer whale breach the water in a magnificent aerial display that would rival the shows at SeaWorld. I carried that memory with me for many years, thinking I had seen something truly amazing. Of course in hindsight, it’s absolutely absurd to think that a killer whale would be in the bay at all, and I’m pretty sure they don’t thrust themselves out of the water in such a forceful fashion unless they’re playing with a seal or something before devouring it as a snack. At least that’s the only reason I can think of, and I don’t feel like looking anything up about it, so we’ll go with that. Either way, that wonderful memory has been dashed, and although I still think of it fondly from time to time, I have to shake my head at my idiocy for entertaining the idea, albeit briefly, that it could have been real.

I just knew for SURE that the other memory was an actual event. Let me first preface this with the fact that my teeth in general are fairly decent (they could be whiter, I know) but there are a couple in the lower front that are ever-so-slightly crooked, though definitely not enough to worry about getting them fixed. So, my “dreamory” was that I was with my father in his green Suzuki jeep, on our way back, presumably, from the dentist since my four lower front teeth were gone and in their place I had a huge wad of cotton to soak up the blood. I distinctly remember the copper metallic taste, and mild discomfort of having the large wad of cotton in my mouth. I recalled that we stopped at a gas station so my dad could fill up, and I remember sitting in the jeep while he took care of that and then went inside to pay. I think I could even remember the smell of gasoline, but that could just be because I know that that is something you could assume you’d smell at a station that sells the stuff. Then we left, and the memory fades away from there. I was shocked when I found out this wasn’t even remotely true; it was one of my most vivid memories, and to have its validity utterly eradicated was unsettling.

I have since come to grips with the fact that these events didn’t happen, and keep them now in a separate place, away from the true, sparsely planted memories of my increasingly distant childhood. However, given the currents and eddies that stirred them up from the ever-building sediment, I feel that I will always have these fabrications readily available to me for a very long time, longer even than some of those less remarkable truth-shaded former realities that will eventually be long forgotten in the clutter of remembrances from the shortly-departed present.