Day 3 of 59

OK, so i knew this wasnt going to be easy, but this is nuts. Last night I had a dream that i was drinking, and I started to get drunk in my dream - crazy drunk. I must really be craving some booze. Also dreamed about smoking some pot. Very weird night.

But alas, I have held strong for three days, and the biggest test is still ahead of me. I've got the long weekend, which includes new years. So weekend, plus extra day, plus one of the top two drinking days of the year, plus I have trivia night at the pub tonight. Woe is me. For some reason, everytime, I think about this, all I can think about is the line from the Traveling Wilbury's song that goes "Everyday is just one day." Maybe not how the they intended it to be interpreted, but so what.

Shaan is doing well. He is home with his mother all this week, as she has the week off. I am coming into the office for a light schedule. He is of course having a blast. She is taking him somewhere everyday. Today they went to the Children's museum, where he got to paint amongst other things.

For the second night, he has had the book "the way back home" read to him - the one I got him for Christmas. I know he will love it one day, and it will become a bed time staple. His favorite right now is frosty the snow man. His mother hid it all year and brought it back out around thanksgiving. Thats dedication.

Day 1 of 59

So I have decided that I am going to run the Pittsburgh Half Marathon on May 2, 2010. I have never run more than a 5K at any time in my life. Unlike a few years ago, where I made the same new years resolution, I will try and do it this year. Mainly because a bunch of people have signed up and will be joining me. So there is no way out of it, even if I have to crawl it.

And in support of that, I need to lose a little bit of my gut. To do so, I will be cutting out alcohol for 59 days. Why 59, well let me tell you - first of all, I have a trip planned to Miami for Feb 25-28, - on what is effectively a Bachelorversary - thats right we are celebrating the anniversary of my friends bachelor party last year in New Orleans. I'm hoping it becomes an annual thing. For the record, I coined that term and want credit. The non-drinking started today. I want to lose some weight - in my gut, which is the only place I need to lose weight, but cutting out booze is the best way to do. Its just 2 months. Nothing good happens in the winter time anyway. But mostly, I make bad decisions when I am drinking. I do stupid things, and I need to stop doing stupid things. This is a good thing, despite my wife, who exlcaims upon me telling her my decision "I can't be with a someone who is dry right now." She claims I look good, I know I dont.

So December 28, 2010. Weight 168.4 lbs. Average mile time is 10 minutes. Longest distance to date 3 miles in prep for the race.

Oh for Christmas, Shaan scored some cool gifts - Legos, A solar sytem mobile, a book, a giant bouncy ball, and time with his family. Years from now, those toys will be in the garage and he will be older and wiser, but his time with his family will always stay with him.

We also planned a trip home to LA. Mid february

A Long Weekend

The boy never ceases to amaze and make me laugh. Favorite story from the weekend: My wife, Shaan and I are standing in the living room of our home, doing nothing in particular. At which point, Shaan, tell my and my wife to hug - in a childish baby voice - Daddy hug Mommy. So we embrace - at which point point he goes "Blahhhhh" and pretends to throw up. WTF. The wife and I of course lost it. Funny as shit. His comedic timing was on and the delivery impecable. Time to get him on the 3 year old stand up circuit.

We also got a Christmas tree this weekend. Not quite decorated yet. But within about 20 minutes of pulling the ornaments out, one had shattered in his hand with glass everywhere. Thankfully it didnt cut him, but that was just too easy to predict.

We also had a wonderful morning in the mall. The roads were too slick too meet up with his cousin and aunt at a mall further away, so we had immediate family day at the nearby location. He loves chow mein from Panda Express and has gotten much better about not making a total mess. The poor poor mall clean up people. We do our best, out of embarassment to clean up, but something are just not possible.

I also got the first of his Christmas gifts. A solar system mobile, that still has Pluto on it. We will have a discussion when he is older and I can do my best to explain the "death" of Pluto as a planet. Also got him a book about a boy who flies to moon and gets stuck there and then meets and alien who also is stucj there. The theme is space - one of his old man's favorites. Hopefully his too.

Need Some Help From Santa's Elves

My wife and I have been together for 9 years, 6 of which we have been married. All together that is a lot of gift giving, between, Christmas, Birthdays, Anniversaries, Valentine's day, the just for shits and giggles gift giving of an early relationship, and of course the I'm sorry I fucked up gift.

So as this year rolls around, I am at a complete loss as to what to get her for a gift. I wouldnt describe her as a woman who has everything, but you just cant get someone a new bed frame for Christmas. And as on of the partners at the firm recently said, you cant get her bling, you dont want to go down that road and set that kind of precedent. I nodded only because I know, my wife is not into flashy jewelry. The stuff she has, she wears elegantly and subtly.

So here I am thinking of gift ideas. There are of course the standard fall backs - a massage/spa treatment, shoes, and clothes. But I dont want to get any of those, they have been over done.

Recently she has been taking a biking class -and by recently I mean she has been going regularly for some time(just not something she has done all her life) and is really into it. So I will be checking out REI for some stuff. She also is not a big fan of buying books, so I thought about a Kindle, or equivalent Sony product. But here I am, less than 15 days away and not a single gift in hand.

So tonight we are thinking about going to get a Christmas tree. Big problem. Possibly. The first thing I think about, is what the boy could possibly do to destroy it. Obviously the glass ornaments pose a problem, when your almost 3 year old, like to grab and throw things, especially shiny things. So now I think I have to go and find plastic ornaments, which dont look as nice, but will clearly give us a better chance of not ending up in the emergency room.

Well I Guess Its Been A While

I just spent some time this afternoon, re-reading some of the blogs I had written over three years ago. Kind of weird. Kind of cool. But mostly they did what I wanted them to do. They were a reminder of a time that I knew would fade from my memory. But I did fail in the sense that I wanted to have something for my son to see and read, about a time that he will never remember. Seeing as how I can not go back and change things, we begin anew and so it goes.

Shaan is now almost three years old. He is the angel/devil incarnate. He is rail thin and appears smart as a whip. He talks like a champ, pronouncing words correctly and doing so in full sentences.

Some sad news to report along the way. My sister in law and her husband are getting a divorce. No more on that.

I have joined a new law practice - which was right around the time that I stopped writing the blog. I am the sole immgiration practioner, make my own hours and overall love the job. Good stuff.

My wife is good as always. We will be married 7 years next May. I still dont know why she stays with me. We have started an annual Thanksgiving tradition, with the second year taking place a month ago.

Shaan's favorite things right now are TV and things TV related, his mother, claiming he is a princess and playing ball. My wife and I have talked about the princess thing. But how do you talk to a 2 year old about sexuality. You dont. He will be who he is. He sees so many princess figures on TV - disney, etc.

He loves to rough house - jumping, kicking, hitting, throwing amongst the top things, that he loves doing.

A while back I bought him a baseball tee and bat and ball. Now this may just be a proud parent speaking, but he hits the ball clean off the tee without hitting the tee itself. Thats just good hand eye cooridination. Time to start obsessing over it.

Some highlights over the summer were 2 close friends weddings. One highlighted by the greatest pub crawl ever - 70 people, matching shirts, 10 bars, 10 hours of drinking, people dressed as animals. Solid. A posting unto itself will be reserved for the event, forever to be known as The Crawl.

Spend labor day weekend at a lake and took the boy in boat that I got to captain. A Vegas trip with my brother, two lost nannies to stealing and drinking(they were sisters, only one was stealing and drinking).

Will write more later. It feels good to write again.

I Bet That Hurt

So we decided it was time to buy Shaan a "big boy" bed. We purchased the bed on Sat. This "big boy" is plastic and shaped like a giant train. A Thomas the Train for those in the know about these things. It is blue and plastic and nearly indestructible. It has as part of a little storage area for toys and other things that need to be kept out of sight, lest a you enjoy colorful eyesores.

So we got the bed on Sat., in the late morning. I put it together relatively quickly. We bought it used, so there was no instructions. But the guy who sold it to us broke it down for me. However, as with all people who wear the blue tooth thing no matter what they are doing, I couldnt always tell if he was telling me "we left the screws where they go" or his high powered clients in the construction industry.

Shaan, ever the one to do something new, wanted to help me put it together. Now this is adorable in a "I don't have kids and don't really get what its like" sort of way. He insisted on grabbing the screwdriver from me. Now as most parents know, the screwdriver is not the best toy to give a child. It was a phillips head, but a flat head fits nicely into the electrical socket. So he would take off with it. This was causing a delay. So I found an Ikea tool - you know the one that is shaped like an "L" and used on every piece of Ikea furniture. That kept him entertained long enough for the wife and I to get the bed together.

So later that afternoon, its nap time. We are excited and nervous to see how he is going to react. So the wife puts him down and leaves the room. The boy requires no additional help falling asleep - he really is great that way. From the stories i have heard, that is borderline angelic. So anywho, she puts him down. We are point attentively paying attention to the monitor. There is no sound, still time goes by and no sound. Then we hear it. Every toy being yanked out of the compartment and thrown to the floor. Then the sounds stop. we are a bit worried at this point, but still no crying. So I go upstairs and as I look through the key hole. I see him just standing in the middle of his room with his blanket. So I go in and pick him up. He immediately say "sleepy" - which he only says when he is really tired and wants to sleep right away. Perfect. I put him back in the bed.

Everything is great. he falls asleep. The wife and I decide to take a nap. About an 1 1/2 hour into the nap, we are awoken to a loud thud, pause and horrible crying. He fell out of the bed. My wife races over to him. Apparently, he fell the approximately foot and a half out of bed and landed on the hard wood floor. He cried for about 10 minutes, till convinced to stop crying by the prospect of watching Finding Nemo.

Later that afternoon we purchased a guard rail for the bed. Happiness all around. There is a small opening for getting in and out, but he can't roll off.

So sunday morning, we are woken up by the little guys voice standing next to our bed. We woke up to "Hi Mama." Much better way of being woken up.

Elmo's World

So in what I think will be the greatest thing I have done as a father, I will be dressing up as Elmo for my son's second birthday party on Feb. 15. His actual birthday is the 10th.

My wife was mentioning the guy she hired, but I thought some random that didnt know the boy, might not be able to engage him as much. So I said I would rather do it. We found a costume shop that had the rental available, and now all there is for me to do is practice the voice and get to know the songs.

This is going to be fucking fantastic. I hope I dont scar him - mentally or physically.

Slumdog Millionaire Review

So this past weekend, the little lady and I went to see Slumdog Millionaire. Despite the fact that Review is in the title of this blog, I am not really going to review the movie, aside from saying that I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to just about anyone.



With that said, I think some of the movie may be lost on some people. The movie really seemed to be a tribute to the city of Bombay, and subsequently Mumbai. A clear distinction was made in the two. But I actually, in stealing from the movie wanted to highlight a few of my favorite scenes or aspects (without giving anything away hopefully) and how they relate to my life.



Now one of the scenes that was my favorite is when the two boys start working as chai wallas in some restaurant. An order is called down, which includes a bottled water. One of the boys is then seen filling a used plastic bottle with water from the tap and then after putting the cap back on it, he is seen gluing the cap shut to the little plastic ring remnant that is usually left when new unused bottles are opened. This of course reminded me of every trip to India, where we were forbidden to drink tap water - only boiled (and chilled) and bottled water. On every trip back to India, our family there would prepare by spending a large amount of time boiling water for us. Even when we went out we took our own water. To the point, that if we ran out of the "homemade" - it meant no water for us. When finally the bottled water arrived (the earliest trip I remember was my 1997 trip - prior trips included 1992, 1990, 1989 and 1984) it was god sent. And in retrospect, maybe it wasn't.

One of my other favorite parts of the movie, was the anti-bollywood, bollywood reference at the end. So if you haven't seen it, don't read this. It wont give anything away, or it might, I just make this shit up as I go along. But at the end of the movie, which featured no lip- sync singing, choreographed dancing or other general bollywood bullshit, the movies end credits included just that. It was perfect. A bit of an homage to the land the movie was based on, without taking away any of the seriousness of the film.

And despite what anyone tells you, it isn't a love story. There is a love story, but its truly a story about the city and some of its less desirable elements and their co-existence with the people of the city.

I think some of the movie may be lost on those not familiar with Indian culture or the recent history of Bombay - the greatness of Amitabh Bachan, the riots, the street beggar children, the slums, and the overall reality of the city. I cant claim to know the reality of it myself, but having heard stories and being generally familiar may have given me a different perspective.

Lastly, the brother. In my humble opinion, the best character in the movie. He reminded me of my own brother - not so much the specific activities of course, but in the sense, that he was always looking out for his younger brother and doing what he thought he needed to do. Especially when it was just them in the world on their own.

So I've Been Busy

This post should mark my triumphant return to the world of blogging. Or just another random rambling, in which I have no point, talk about things that only concern me and generally bore most people to death.

Recent highlights and lowlights: got a new job. I joined a new law firm as the head and sole member of the immigration department. They havent quite gotten to know me yet. Once they do, I'm sure they will tell their children stories about me. And write fanatastic haikus in my honor. I just started this week, but I already got to use the expression "C-bomb" in a a conversation. This cant fail.

Also, they boy is doing well. He will be 2 on Feb. 10. Which means, if I can make it that far without Child Services coming to my door, I will have been somewhat of a sucessful parent. The wife wants to get him a dude that dresses up as elmo and makes balloons. Clearly he is a big fan of both of these things. But frankly, is it right that a guy who dresses up as elmo and makes balloon animals gets paid an hourly rate of $150. What. The. Fuck.

The wife is doing well. She continues to rock my world. But like most couples, every so often we fight. At which point she just slow jams my world.

My sister in law is going through some hard times right now. With her permission, I will explain my convoluded involvement in her problems.

The dog is angry and bitter. He gets no attention and has become the red-headed step child of the family. I feel horrible. But do you know how hard it is to take a dog for a walk at the end of the work day, after taking care of a high energy 2 year old in the winter in Pittsburgh. I dont either. I just let him out in the yard. I did make him an egg with his breakfast this morning.

A few more highlights. I have been asked to co-organize a pub crawl after a friend's wedding. I am as giddy as a tweener that just met those jonas douchebags. I've never had the honor and downtown pittsburgh is perfect for a pub crawl. I hope to help make this one that is talked about for years and maybe if I'm good enough, every anniversary the wedding couple will celebrate another year of marriage by sending me coasters from their annual anniversary pub crawl.

And lastly, to the individuals who have visited this site, even though I didnt -thank you. To those from China, South Africa, Way the fuck up there in Canada and Russia - really? this page?

More to come later. I'd also like to see if the readers can tell if I am drunk or sober when writing these without looking at the post time.