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.