Over the holiday break I came to the realization that, I really don't like the Blogger format that much. At least not as much as I like the Wordpress format. So I went out and bought myself a domain and moved my blog to wordpress. it's over here now. Thanks to those of you have decided I was worthy of following, I hope you still come read my ramblings at the new site. Aside from a new address everything else will be the same.
Adieu blogger!
I was petrified,
It was Baby's first Christmas and ,
I thought for sure I was going to die,
The anticipation of the craze just grabbed me by the balls,
I wanted to run,
Right out my front door,
But no not I.......
Alright, enough with that. But seriously I was afraid of the Christmas. The first one that has held any special meaning in a long time. Not to say that the last fifteen or so haven't been great. But lets face it, a five month old is going to bring all sorts of new found holiday insanity cheer to the table. And rightly so. In order to ensure sleepless eve's and tip-toeing morning's of for the next 12 years you have to bring the insanity. I mean, why would I want to sleep in on Christmas morning for the next decade? Why would I want to avoid the constant "Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here yet? IS IT HERE YET?" that I put my parents through? I certainly can cannot think of 20 reasons why.
But now it has passed. And in case you haven't noticed, I get the post holiday blues before the holiday's. And now the blues have turned to greens (wait is green a happy color? Oh fuck who cares, it's my favorite color)And I figure it's my last year to hold onto my bah-ass-humbug attitude. Next year and forever after I will have to put on my happy face.
It wasn't really as crazy as I had anticipated. Luckily I was blessed with a pretty easy going kid. He is happy to kick back and chill (literally. He just started throwing his arms behind his head and kicking back lounge style. Super cute.), and so we did. For the most part. We kicked off the festivities with a nice eve of dinner at my folk's house. Last year we started a tradition with them (at least I hope it becomes a tradition), of having a collective effort in the kitchen to produce a nice 5-7 course elegant dinner. This year my Bro rocked a bomb ass prime rib for the main course and it hit the freaking spot. It was preceded by great soup and followed by awesome dessert. Then on the morning of the in-laws came over to our house (by eight o'clock, the earliest I've been up on Christmas in a looong time) and we did our thing with them. Then to my folks by eleven for brunch. Kickball with the friends around two, and then out to my Grandma's for supper (and a bowl full of crazy) by six-ish. We were supposed to hit my wife's extended family in there as well but, we just ran out of time. Next year they get priority.
It was sort of funny because, until my Grandma's house the day was kid free (with the exception of my own). But come Grandma's there is a small handful of young children, all belonging to my uncle. Being an adult looking in on the insanity that I was once a part of is an interesting (and sobering) spectacle. I have a newfound respect for my parents. There were four children in my family and I can only imagine how crazy we must have been by the end of the best day of the year. Presents and sugar and carbs and sugar and more presents and more sugar and a nap on the way to Grandma's and then........insanity in its purest form. You're kind of asking for it by late in the afternoon following a plethora of childish stimuli. So this year I just enjoyed the show. Mostly. By the end I was dog tired. As was the boy. And probably most of the adults. So getting home, cracking a beer and chilling out with a little Wii action was a great way to end the day. Of course the passing out later in bed was even better.
The one thought that kept running through my head all day long was "holy fuck I can't believe another year has come and gone". And now here we are, two and a half days away from the start of O-ten (is that how we'll say it "O-Ten"? 'Cause I think just "Ten" sounds pretty lame. Plus there is technically still an "O" in front of the ten). A year that is bound to be even sanity-less than the rest. So happy 2010 everybody. I hope it treats you all beautifully!
This was a big year for me. Probably as big as they come. All that other shit people tell you about milestones in your life can kiss this year's ass. Sweet sixteen, fuck you, I was probably grounded for that one. The big One Eight, ooh I can go buy porn and tobacco. Whoopidy-frikin-doo, I was getting high and looking at porn long before that one. Tipsy twenty one, eff you too, my girlfriend (now my wife) was older than me and buying booze a year and half before you came along. Twenty five, well that one was just a complete fucking let down. So what, I can get a better car insurance rate and go rent a damn car (anyone that looks forward to that one should really take a closer look at their life) yee-haw. And due some of the afore mentioned activities I didn't have a high school graduation (by the way, high school was a perfect term for my years at that institution) or college graduation to deal with. Maybe those would've been biggies, but not for this guy.
So yeah, this year was HUGE. The year that your first child is born ranks among the top fucking milestones of all time. Unless you don't have a child then you can pick from one of the above lesser milestones. Or go have a kid. Or just not give a shit. It's really up to you.
Really the only other exciting thing that took place in my life this year was returning to my position in the food chain. Right at the fucking top. I had been a vegetarian for ten years and it all came to a crashing halt this year. I wish I knew why. I really didn't have any aha kind of moment that turned me back into a carni. I really enjoyed being a vegetarian. It got me out of my shell, culinarily speaking. I still love to cook vegetarian, and I still respect the animals and try my best to buy only free range, grass fed, organic animals. But there is still a part of me that feels guilty as hell when I put that meat in my mouth and put those molars to work. I actually blame the skills my father posses', when it come to cooking, for turning me. He makes all sorts of incredible edible meals (actually both my parents are ridiculously talented in the kitchen, my mom is one hell of a baker), but it was his boeuf bourguignon that was the last straw. I had been having some thoughts about the animal kingdom, and then my folks threw a party and served that scrumptious freaking dish. And it only took one smell for me to be transported back to my childhood, coming home from school with a big old pot of the stuff on the stove, that he made the day before, lifting the lid and sneaking out pieces of beef, with it barely making it into my mouth still in tact. Damn that's one good dish. Now I'm hungry, what the fuck was I typing about? Oh right, food. Sorry. So yeah, I started eating meat again. Luckily I have been able to keep to my vow of never returning to a fast food restaurant. If I show up in a McDonald's ever again please just put me in the burner and go sprinkle my ashes somewhere cool.
The rest of the year, up until one particular sixth day of the month, was spent procrastinating on getting stuff ready for the arrival of our baby. Sex still unknown at that point. Unknown in fact until his little testes popped out. The waiting really was the hardest part. Watching my wife grow that little baby was an amazing thing but, not knowing what was coming our way was tough. Great, but tough.
I still have a hard time believing how incredible the human body is (and every other species for that matter). Growing a child inside you must be among the craziest feeling out there. I can't think of any other feeling that would compare with it. Granted my knowledge on the subject is limited, I still think it's damn freaking crazy that you women folk grow other humans inside of you. I can't help but think of the final scene in Spaceballs every time I see a really pregnant lady. I know that's weird, but it's true.
(and If I learned anything at all from Zoolander, it's that this kid may very well grow up to be a male model. He made that face within minutes of being born). And then my life changed fooo-revvv-errrrr! In the most incredible way possible.
From that point until this point it has been kind of a blur. The first couple months were just an incredible rush. One of the highest highs I've ever had. I honestly can't put it into words. At least not words worthy of describing something as raw as becoming a new parent. Once those first months passed though I hit my groove. And now I'm just riding the wave of euphoria wherever it takes me.
I honestly can't believe this year is already coming to end. I still think of years in terms of an eight year old. Where one of them seems like ten. And you don't think the end will ever come (not that you care about the end of the year, just the days off from school associated with it). Twenty ten is gonna be a crazy one. I already know it. And I'm excited as hell for it.
And now I have to go because the little monkey is getting mad at me for sitting here typing while he's blowing chunks all over the place.
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