for posterity's sake

for posterity's sake
Originally uploaded by grumpnet

the house is quiet save for my tapping on the keys.

the toilet tank fills in the bathroom.

kris dozes, breathing heavily, while the cat sleeps in the living room.

i am writing instead of taking time to rest.

this is what it's like in our house without a child.

beginnings and ends

triage women & children's
Originally uploaded by grumpnet

a blood pressure spike led to a trip to the hospital for a possible inducement.

kris was kind of flabbergasted as we made our way from the ob/gyn.

it took her some time to compose herself before calling her mom.

she smartly backdoored her way to our trip by mentioning how the ultrasound showed the baby's eyes open and looking around. then she gave our destination.

her mom was not alarmed.

a quick, pre-registered check-in and she was in a triage room hooked up to monitors that over the next few hours showed a steadily decreasing rate.

this left us free to go home, but with a catch: kris was done working. she was under orders to stay home and rest.

and just like that -- with a change of shift on her return -- the end of 8 years working together.

mommy cut

mommy cut
Originally uploaded by grumpnet

as we were getting ready for work a few weeks ago, kris admitted defeat: "my hair is officially out of control."

given that it was all she could do to keep her hair out of her eyes for things like intensive baking or cooking, well, i suspected birthing would be, um, even hairier.

so in yet another change to our landscape, kris had her locks shorn and thinned out for a more manageable 'style.

luckily, the lady who cut her hair was herself a mother and had practical suggestions as to length, such as no cute bangs, since they'd be in her face every time she was over the baby.

i say it's a good looking birthin' and babyin' 'do.

last date night

last shot
Originally uploaded by grumpnet

as per the suggestions of numerous friends with children, kris and i took advantage of our last couple of weeks minus progeny to have a real, live date night, which we hadn't had since ... well, maybe the evening she tested positive on, like, four pregnancy tests, back in may.

we watched a matinee of "avatar," which we figured we'd better watch on the big screen in 3-d.

as with director james cameron's last movie, "titanic," i really didn't have much desire to watch it, but had heard enough about its technical achievements that i wanted to experience it in the way he intended.

(in a word, the film was exhilarating. while the 3-d experience wasn't what i'd hoped, it worked well in lending a sense of depth and airiness. the story wasn't groundbreaking, but at least it didn't serve as a pretense to show off special effects; the tech served the story, not vice versa. it was well-paced and had a pulse-pounding climax.)

anyway, at least we can tell our boy, or ourselves, that we saw what was probably a cinematic milestone as one of the last things we did together before he was born.

dad regifted a couple of gift cards from the longhorn steakhouse chain that served as the dinner portion of our date. we had fried onion appetizers, salads, filets (mine with bleu cheese), baked potatoes and even dessert -- brownies with ice cream. a very satisfying meal which lasted a leisurely hour and a half.

while we pretty much just re-hashed the movie and compared its themes to cameron's other work -- particularly "aliens" -- and how it related to profiles we'd read about the man, one could call it a discussion on cinema. yeah, that's it.

i hope we'll be able to remember this as sort of the baseline of what normal was on those evenings when a chatty toddler will bury all adult dinner conversation under an avalanche of questions, observations and stories. that way, we can re-create it on future child-escape date nights.

me at 46

me at 46
Originally uploaded by grumpnet

here i am, as the caption says, "unwashed, unchanged, ready for lunch. could be better; could be worse. grateful to be where i am."

the only downside i see is the unknown of the previously ancient 50 staring me down and inevitable comparisons between me and my dad.

by my age, he had a boy getting ready to start college and was just entering the prime of his earning capacity.

i'm expecting my first child and probably earning as much as he did when i was maybe 8.

still, i'm now two years older than my buddy jody was when he passed away. and have now lived 30 years longer than my cousin pia.

i learned a long time ago that there is no surer way to unhappiness than to compare yourself to others.

i am happy where i am and like the possibilities of where i could be headed.

i enjoy the great gift of options. i pray i may make wise choices with the ones i have.

hard first day

don't believe everything you read.

i finished this lovely changing table about half an hour ago, or nearly 10 hours after i started.

among the selling points recommended on its shipping box were, number 1, "quick & easy assembling."

at least it took my mind off one of the more poor days in sports for me, as my mountaineers lost in both football and basketball in marquee games. and ohio state won its first bcs bowl game in 9 years.

seriously. just awful. at least i had something to show for it at the end of the day.