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.