Friday, March 5, 2010

Weekend at the Inlaws

As the young ninja naps in his swing, I have my stuff packed(including fishing gear) his stuff packed and my wife's stuff packed. We're off to her folks place for the weekend. We have to sign our wills tonight, and I have my first appointment at the VA hospital Monday morning. I just cooked breakfast and have some cookies in the oven for when my wife gets home. This weekend will be a nice break for us both, since the boy is taking a bottle. My inlaws house is big enough that I can stay in a room with my son, and she can stay in her old room and not hear him when he cries. So finally some sleep for mommy. Saturday I might take him up to see my grandmother, and am hoping I can get out to fish Sunday. Or I might try to switch it around as it might rain Saturday night and Sunday. I guess it's all good since I get to go to Bass Pro on Monday, but I also have to drop by my old Guard unit to straighten out a very expensive supply issue. Oh am I glad I'm out...

..and so I blog

As a new stay at home dad, I realize there's a lot(but not a whole lot) of stay at home dad blogs. I have no idea why I decided to start my own, maybe because no one in my family has really done what I do and almost none of my friends(on Facebook etc) have either. Well lets get on to the description of me:

I'm 28. I live in the middle of nowhere Iowa. Literally. I have two towns near me for the total population of maybe 1000.

I've done a few jobs in my life before the Ninja. Fast food, telemarketer,college student, Soldier, retail sales, and maybe security(I'll explain later.) I spent eight and a half years of my life as a member of the Iowa Army National Guard, starting 27 March 2001. If you can do the math, my life got real interesting a little over six months later. I was a communications guy to start, and after a deployment overseas and 5 years decided to move to Electronics Repair. I thought it would help me get a better job. I was wrongish. It didn't help me get a job where we lived. What my military experience did help me land was a 2nd shift security job at a trucking firm. Unfortunately, thanks to an injury and surgery on active duty they want to see my records of it. Since I've been out of the military since September of 09 it has to come through the VA ( I filed for disability) which is either like pulling teeth or trying to get a stunned snail to move. So we wait.

My hobbies, oh my hobbies. I used to be a dedicated nerd. I've playing Dungeons and Dragons. Though my favorite game will always be Battletech. I'm a consummate PC gamer. Keep your console. Oddly though... I fish. Picked it up last year, I found myself playing an old SNES fishing game and thought "Why play fishing games when I can fish for real?" and its been an obsession since.

Onto the wife(wait isn't that how we got here?) I love my wife, and I'm not just saying that on the odd chance she'll read this blog. She works at a company that produces animal pharmaceuticals, testing their vaccines. She works 40+ hours a week and is a much more dedicated worker than I could ever be(outside of the military). She has stood by me through my deployment and even me reenlisting against her wishes. Plus she's a great mother, especially given that she had no prior experience with kids under 5(my sister is 11 years younger than me). All in all I couldn't ask for a better partner.

Now the most important part, the one known as the Ninja. This is gonna be long, so hit the latrine and get your coffee now.

My son was born 23 Nov 2009, at 1905(?). After 20 hours of labor, with no pain killers. He had a little trouble breathing when we was born, but quickly showed the lungs that were his birth right from me(I can be loud, just ask some of the privates who pissed me off). He's called the ninja mainly due to all the kicking he did and also because he always tried to hide from everyone but Mommy during the pregnancy. Sonograms, ultrasounds and even Daddy. Now I call him Baby Bear, cuz he's a biggen. He was 8lbs 13 oz at birth and is over 15lbs now. He's in the 99% for length. He's gonna be a big Boy. Hopefully a tight end for Iowa State, then Green Bay.
The boy had colic really bad, and is now pretty much over it, even though we still have bad days. I wouldn't want another job, at least not until he's older.

Well I think that's a start. I'm getting tired of typing, and I'm just tired honestly. Hopefully some place is thawed enough this weekend so I can get some fishing in.