Tuesday, June 26, 2012

"The Great Illustrated Classics"


Some of my favorite memories from when I was a kid was of my dad reading to me. I remember we had these books, the "Great Illustrated Classics." They were these abridged and illustrated versions of old classic books, like The Swiss Family Robinson, Around the World In Eighty Days, or my favorite was Journey To The Center Of The Earth. I remember every night Dad would read a chapter or so to me. It must have taken a few weeks to go through a book, and when you're only five or six a few weeks is forever long. But I was fine with that, I loved it. 

I think about those times and about how soon I'll have a boy or girl of my own and it's hard not to be overwhelmed by it all. Will he or her have memories of things like that with me? Will they be 25 someday and have to try not to get all choked up thinking about them? I hope so. I hope I'm able to be that sort of father who's able do those sorts of things that may seem really insignificant or trivial at the time, but to my kids are really special moments. 

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Big News!!!


So.. I've been under the radar the last few months. Things have been pretty busy in my world; and by busy I mean insane:
To start with my first year at Kansas State University has wrapped up. It was fun. I enjoyed learning and being around people and in an in environment that encouraged my curiosity. I loved it, and some days I even miss it. But by the time May rolled around, I was itching to get out of there. You can only eat ramen noodles covered in stolen Taco Bell hot sauce so many times before it feels like a part of your soul is withering away. Being around smart people is great. Having peanut butter and jelly for your fifth meal in a row, not so great.
And somewhere along the way I met a girl. Our friends introduced us, and I'm happy they did. I fell hard for her, and for some odd reason, she did likewise. I kissed her for the first time in a Dillon's parking lot and never looked back.
And that leads me to the biggest development in my life. I'm going to be a dad! Yes, I'm going to be a father, and no we did not plan this. That seems to be the biggest question that people have had for her and I, "was this planned?" and I have to struggle to keep my snarky comments to my self. I'm a bit of a spontaneous guy. I like adventure and excitement. It's fun. But there's a huge difference between a spur of the moment trip to the lake with the guys and looking at your girlfriend and saying, "Hey baby, you've got a nice body, but you know what it needs? A baby bump." That's not adventurous; that's crazy. I'm naive, young, and dumb, but not that naive, young, and dumb
So yes we're expecting. I'm not going to lie; I'm pretty excited about it. I'm terrified, but still excited. I'll try my best to keep you all posted, but no promises. The next few months are looking to be even busier than the last few.
Peace