Big Ol' Stack of Work

I never enjoy taking days off work. Catching up afterward is such a hassle, it rarely seems worth it. Taking five days off in a row has a greatly amplified effect. My work stack of papers and things to sort out upon my return to work is daunting, indeed. I spent about half an hour just sorting papers without having the chance to grade any of them. I have two student assistants--something I would never consider having if not for my work load. I don't know any of my students' names.

The difference between this and any other day-off conundrum is that this time it was totally worth it. With my son at home, I want nothing more but to be there. If there were a way to work at home, I would take it up in a second. leaving home is harder than ever before and I have to take the time before I mosey out the door to sit and just watch him sleep. He's such a stud and he's the most worthwhile thing to look at since I met my wife.

Bring it on 2010

I'm very technical when it comes to the new year. The joy and romance and tradition that many people put on means very little to me. It simply means that it's 2010 now instead of 2009. In that mindset, I rarely set up any kind of resolution system, for I feel that resolutions are like so many rules--made to be broken. However, I did get a wave of inspiration this morning, a romance that I'm pretty sure was the result of sitting and thinking that at any time my wife and I will have a permanent house guest. The idea of living for two has been a mighty powerful force that comes in waves and knocks me around, rolling me on the floor of reality and stealing my breath. So with young Prindle soon to be arriving, I've been thinking of ways to enrich my life in ways that benefit ore than just me.

33 Push-ups daily
50 Sit-ups daily
Write 2500 words per week
Write/revise one poem/song per week
Schedule one photo shoot per month
Memorize at least one hymn per month
Learn a new song per month
Prepare one sermon per month regardless of my obligation to preach it
Read at least one Ellen White book

Other ideas went through my brain, but I wasn't sure how to put them in a way for me to quantify. For example, I want to put more focus into the martial arts, maybe get to the point where I'm picking up a new discipline. I want to be the best dad in the known galaxy. I want to record music and make podcasts. The list is already large enough that people could tell me that it is too much, but I figure that if these are worth doing, then I can and need to make them happen.

Cat Piss

I accidentally made my wife cry over the weekend. I mentioned the possibility of ridding our house of cats. I don't really want to lose them, they are incredibly awesome, and I love them greatly. However, the weekend brought about two urinary occasions that left me quite upset. Whenever my parents come to town, they seem to receive the brunt of my kitties' bladder venom. One such peeing escapade was in my parents' suitcase. It was on the floor, a place that I thought I was clear about when I said, "Don't leave anything on the floor." But the other was on Sunday morning when I was stripping sheets from the bed and found a big wet spot. Either my parents have bed-wetting issues or one of my cats has taken its bathroom behavior to new heights.

I hollered for my wife to come down because I needed to talk to her. I showed the sheet and made my claim that if this persists, we may need to be done with them.

I love my cats, and I would likely not care as much about their pissing practices. However, with child en route, I'm feeling like I should care more. Yeah, I can replace almost anything they can urinate on, but with a kid rolling around the floor, or not being able to get away from such a substance, I'm feeling the need to take it all seriously.

Plus, I don't want Jr. to get peed on...that would just suck.

Yes, Your Pregnancy.

My wife and I started Lamaze classes on Sunday. There were a couple of nice things about this as well as a sprinkling of irritations. I trudged in with a mindset of, "How long do we have to be here?" But the mood lightened considerably.

First of all, my science classes growing up were no good. As the instructor went through the anatomy of everything going on, I was actually interested. The instructor said multiple times that this was the dry part of the class, but I was plenty interested (and my imagination made a lot of jokes that I could never say in class). Moreover, I was struck by the miracle God sets in motion when all this fetal activity gets rolling.

Another breath of fresh air was the instructor's acknowledgment that the couples present were either one among a group of pregnant friends, or they were loner parents, traversing the parental landscape solo. I have a lot of friends, and most of them are married. I was surprised, however, that after my wife got preg-nified, that none followed suit. This mindset is probably because of my mother. "Once one of you gets pregnant, then everybody will be." Mom was wrong. It doesn't bother that none of our friends are getting knocked up, but there is a bizarre feeling when I realize that what my wife and I are going through, none of our friends will relate. It was nice to be in a place where bulbous bellies and blank-faced husbands gathered to prepared for the fetus festival.

Downsides included watching birth videos. The first I had ever seen were in college, after which I told my wife (then my girlfriend) that if she were to have my child, I would accompany her only if I had a blindfold on. Though I've matured a smidge, I could really deal without. I fear what else we may be watching in the weeks to come.

I Ought to be Packing

Today my wife, fetus, and I are heading to Colorado. This is a vacation that we've been working on for quite a while. It started with my parents' idea of trying an Alaska cruise (suggested two years ago), but with economic insanity and other financial restrictions, we opted for a visit to the folks' place and gallavent about the mountains and nearby sights. It's going to be awesome. So I'll be out there for a week, so I don't know how often I'll get to update. So I should be packing things as our departure time is about three hours from now, but I wanted to rave a bit about Away We Go.

This film is great, though I don't know how everybody will react to it. Really, it's a fantastic flick for the sake of mirroring a lot of what my wife and I are experiencing. The story follows a couple with their first child on the way as they try to figure the best place to settle down and start a family. It is a legitimately good time, and rather humorous (if you like John Krasinski, you can't go wrong here). But the thing that really stuck in my brain were the similarities between either the story and characters and my life. For instance:

1. In the movie, Burt and Verona find out that the only family they have in town is moving to another continent a month before the baby is born. My brother and his wife are moving to Guam and will be missing the arrival of our kid.

2. Some friends of Burt and Verona miscarry. I found out that some good friends of mine who we expecting also recently miscarried.

3. Burt in general reminds me of the way things work in my brain. I don't act like Burt usually (though there were some blaring similarities), but the things he did in the film mirror much of what goes on in my head.

Anyhow, go check it out. I'll try to see it again if it's still around another week. It definitely has that indie film flair, but not in such a way that you can tell the crew were trying to strike and be different for different's sake. And with a summer of such a crap-load of lousy movies, this should rank pretty high on your list.

Hurray For a New Week

I can't express how happy I am that last week is over. As I tried to blog on Friday (though I never got around to posting), last week was a madhouse: super busy, super exhausting, and ridiculously long.

I think after the devil got bored with moral conscience torture, he turned to the education system and said, "Let there be testing." It really is the antithesis of the glory of good. I had two weeks worth that ended last week, so there's just another thing to be happy about.

My wife gets back in town today, so that's awesome. A full week without is a bit too long. Though I enjoyed my cold cereal diet, I am ready to get back to my healthier, happier way of life.

All Alone

So my wife is out of town for the rest of the week, leaving me eating only sandwiches, hot dogs, and cold cereal...and it's awesome. There's something about bachelor-ing it up every once in a while that's kind of nice. I think it's that everything is back to my own schedule. I get home and eat whatever whenever and do whatever I feel like. This isn't to say that my wife is a tyrant that dominates every bit of my life when she's home, but there's something different when you know you are the only person in the house. The cats love me more, I eat the cheaper brand of Fruit Loops, and I sprawl all over the bed. I know that I will soon look at this solitude as a curse, but for now, I'll be a slob of a bachelor and enjoy it.