2010: Year in Review

Last Tuesday my boss enexpectedly said lets close down shop and come back on Monday. I said no sir. I will never abandon my post. I would rather work even if there is nothign to do.

If you believe that then you must be new here.

I got a surprise 5 day vacation and spent it all with my family. I didn't do any blogging related things. I thought I would go ahead and put that out there just for the insanely small chance that someone actually missed me.

Now that I am back I have a 2010 wrap up post to do. It is a little bit of Braden in pictures. I did one for 2009 if you want to get an idea of what you are in for. With that bring on 2011 as I look back fondly at 2010.

We started the year with something that looks like this, and man did we learn a lot.

We leaned water safety.

We fine tuned our baseball skills.

We learned to properly operate an ATV.

We even studied a little geology.

It wasn't all fun and games. Braden got banished to live with the dogs a time or two.

It was mostly fun and games though like this first trip to a ballgame in Springfield.

Mommy taught Braden the joys of snow cones.

Braden taught himself the joys of stickers.

Braden was a shrimpin boat captain on one day.

And caught some guinea pigs for his buddies in Peru on another.

Of course I couldn't leave out the fact that he even learned some skills with the ladies.

Braden actually did learn about Charlie Brown or "Cha Bown" after I joked about his Snoopy picture.

Only that dang gravity kept us from learning to fly.

We were ready to greet the aliens, but couldn't master the flying as noted above. 

Braden turned 2 this year and he celebrated by spitting on a cake shaped like Mickey Mouse.

2010 was tiring.

And now it's time to go.

When it was all said and done we ended up with this

Happy New Year and best wishes for a great 2011!

I Want to Spend 2010 With My Family

I have just returned to work today from my second consecutive 4 day weekend.  In other words I have only worked 3 days out of the past 11.  I am not too excited about going back to work this morning.

In the past several days I have had a wonderful time staying at home with Arica and Braden.  It is a nice way to end what was at times a very difficult 2009.  I worked so much this year in the US and abroad that time with my family was sometimes neglected.  A four day weekend cannot take away the disappointment of missing Braden's first Halloween while marooned on a rainy island teeming with bagpipes. Nor can it erase a summer filled with dread about travel plans.  The days off do, however, provide a great springboard into what I hope is a better life this year.

As I look forward to 2010 I want to spend as much of it as possible with my family. I want to be there when they have bad days. I want to be there for every single holiday no matter how small. I want to take a real vacation this year with my wife, if not several.

To many people travelling to the capital of kilts for business seems like a great job.  Maybe a life full of movement and travel is what you crave. Not me. Of course I would like it if I could take my family along, but with a 13 month old kid that is not really feasible. The best thing for us is just being together right in our own hometown.

Many days at home in this parenting journey seem so mundane and difficult. Another load of dishes. Another dirty diaper. Supper time. Bath time. Bed time. Somewhere in between there is grocery shopping or household chores. I used to just get irritated with all of this. Sometimes I wasn't too pleasant.

For this I apologize to my family. The reality is that these little tasks are what makes up life with a small child. If you take them away there is not much left.  If I can't enjoy diapers and dishes then I can't enjoy life. So with this realization and a hopefully reformed attitude I venture into what has become a snowy (at least for Arkansas) 2010. I will undertake this adventure with hopes of wonderfully normal days ahead filled with toys and tater tots with my family.

Happy New Year.

2009: Braden's Year in Review

We started out this year with something that looked like this.

Then we took him for a stroll.

We taught him to cheer for the Cardinals.

We taught him to use the computer.

There were some set backs this year. Braden went to jail for theft of property.

When he got out we introduced him to our pet giraffes.

After jail and giraffes we decided it was time for his yearly bath.

Of course we taught him to call the Hogs.

 We let him pick out some pumpkins to make a pie.

He did such a good job with the pumpkins we let him take a train ride.

After the ride it was back to work begging for change as a street monkey.

After work we figured rabbit stew would go pretty good with our pie so Braden picked out a tasty bunny.

Sure 2009 wasn't all work for the little man. He had a few drinks.

He went fishing a time or two.

He even took some wagon rides.

All this kept Braden so busy this year that he had neglected a hair cut for 12 months. He finally got one.

Now it is cold.

We have opened Christmas presents.

So it must be time for a New Year even though Braden is sad to see this one end.

But it is time to get some rest because 2010 will be even busier.

By the way, we ended up 2009 with this.

A New Year for a New Dad

The New Year always brings forth a tremendous amount of celebration around the world. People seem to find some comfort in putting behind troubles of the past year and looking forward to a new beginning. One of the "working girls" celebrating with Lt. Dan and Forrest in the movie Forrest Gump says, "Everyone gets to start over." I have never really bought in to all of this excitement. Don't get me wrong I have attended many a New Year celebration but I am typically there just to have fun the same as I would be if someone invited me to a party on any Friday night.

This year I have a reason to look forward to 2009 as sort of a new beginning. My son was born in November so 2009 is the first full year for me as a Father. I will go through many firsts and live what is a completely different life. Looking at it this way is exciting. Now my son gurgles and laughs a bit but by the end of the 2009 he will be talking. Now he is completely immobile. He can't even roll over yet. During the year he will start crawling and by the end of 2009 he will be walking. Now he relies totally on me to play with the toys but by the end of 2009 he will be able to play with his little basketball goal he got for Christmas. These are just some of the major changes that will happen in 2009. I am sure that I cannot even imagine all the things that will happen and that will change.

It is with the enthusiasm of William and Clark as they headed out on their journey that I begin this new year. I will face obstacles like the famous explorers. I may not be in danger of starvation or death but I certainly will face things just as strange to me as all the new sights that journey unveiled for Mr. Lewis and Mr. Clark. With that I say welcome to 2009 and the adventure to come.