Mid-Break update

Essentially, my break is half over. Two full weeks is a fairly significant portion of one's life. If focussed, I'm sure one could accomplish a lot in that time, but focus has never been one of my strong suits. I'm actually happy with the progress I'm making on my novel over the break. I'm still at the initial stages of just throwing unedited crap into the computer file and seeing what sticks. I think I'll have to write about 400 pages to come out with a 200 page novel at the end. But other than that it has been a very very quiet break. Wifey and I treated each other to Rockband 2 for Christmas. Great game, but we've had almost no time to play it. I've banged on the drums at an average of about 1 or 2 songs a day. That's it. For a lot of the break, I've been busy chasing the two year old around. She's learning something new every day, but three hours with her is the equivalent of a full work day. A full day with her and I feel like I need to sleep for 12 hours. And at this point, we still don't have little S home yet. We're in this stage of being half tethered to her. We're not dong the diapers or the midnight feedings, but Wifey is attached to the pump and has to make a trip to the hospital each and every day. We can't go to the city. We can't go to a movie. Wifey can't even make it to the grocery store without throwing off her whole schedule. So it's sort of like we're responsible for the little one already. So we've been plenty busy and it will probably only get worse once she actually does come home. But such is life. I can't say I'm having a bad time. And the sooner she gets home, the better.

Meh. Just a shoe.

How irrelevant is Junior? Any other president, any other time and a thrown shoe would have been a true international incident. The country would be in an uproar demanding war, revenge. All those things. It's an insult to our country and to our chosen leader. But this time, most people didn't seem to think much of it. Meh. So some one threw a shoe at someone that no one cares about, and Junior being Junior more than earned it. I wonder if at this point, he realizes how far down he's drag the country he purportedly loves.

Imagine if Barrack had gotten the shoe, or even Britney or even OJ. I think in any of these cases it would have made a bigger headline.

New story today

A couple weeks ago I found a site called Six Sentences. http://sixsentences.blogspot.com/ They only publish pieces that are exactly 6 sentences in length. I figured I could find something they might publish. So I took a small piece I'd written I don't remember when, something about 20 sentences long and in ten minutes compressed it into something 6 sentences. Ideally, I think I would have liked 7 or 8 sentences, but this site seems pretty forgiving of run-ons. And I smushed enough to make it sort of work in 6. Not the best piece ever, but no shame in throwing up on this site.

Anyway, a couple thoughts. I think this site is a great place for people who just want to try out some writing. Six sentences isn't a whole lot of commitment. It can be done realy quick. It's also a great place for people who tend to ramble to really focus on editing a story to get to essentials. And if you can't write an interesting six sentence piece, it might be time to set aside that novel you're working on.

Another thought. I read through a handful of past pieces to get an idea of what this site is about. When people tell really short stories like this, they like to hint at a resolution. More often than it should the last sentence uses the word, "cancer".

Another thought. The site also allows you to use aliases or write fictionally from someone else's point of view. "Authors" include Sarah Palin and some other random folks you wouldn't expect.

Retirement?

Sadly, last night could be my last week of regular basketball. Starting next year, we'll have two rugrats at home, and until they grow a little older, it might be tough to leave Wifey at home facing a double team.

Sure, I may get out for the occassional evening, but as a regular weekly activity, I've probably laced up my sneakers for good. Sort of sad.

Especially, since I didn't play all that great last night.

What's in a name?

So it's been a couple days and we really were coming down to the wire on names. At first Wifey liked Sierra or Sienna, which sounded like a pick up truck or a minivan. Another name she liked was Hannah until I pointed out that every boy in her class would be calling her Hannah Montana. She also like Rhianna. Apparently, she didn't know this was the name of a famous singer too.

She didn't really like my name picks either. Jaelyn didn't go with my last name. Jada was also too celebrity. Eventually, we settled on Serena Alexi Lin.

So kid, your name was well thought out compromise. I hope it works for you.

Birthday for Number Two

Hey Kid,

When J hears about her first days in the world, she's going to hear about a missed Winston Marsalis concert, two missed weddings and her mother's obsession with laundry. And yet, you're the one who's going to be remembered for poor timing and probably your parents slow negotiation on choosing a name. Hopefully, you'll have one that you love by the time you're able to read this.

So your sister had already gone to sleep and you're dad was busy (non-obsessively) folding laundry. Mommy called from the hospital and told Daddy to get his butt down there. Grandma and Grandpa came over to watch sister J. For the most part, sister J was able to sleep through it all, but at least once or twice, she got up to test out her lungs and scream. Maybe she knew that you were coming and she wanted to show you how it's done.

Mommy had been at the hosptial for over a week. The day after Thanksgiving, she sprung a leak and got admitted to the hospital. There was a risk of infection or a risk that you just wanted to pop out a couple weeks early. Mommy concentrated on being a baby oven while Daddy took care of J all week.

But on this night, you were ready. Almost two months early, but at 2:56am December 9th, you popped out and screamed so that we all knew you were okay.

You rule the pre-natal intenstive unit. All the nurses know you're the one with the big scream and no name. You're a tiny little thing at 3 pounds and 14 ounces, but healthy. You'll be out of the hospital in the next few weeks. You'll grow soon. You'll be loved. You're already wonderful.

Since the Turkey

The days have been getting noticably shorter since Thanksgiving. It's normally a pretty busy time of year for everyone, and this year is no exception. If anything, I'm more busy. I've recently had to manage both drop off and pick up duties for the kid. That means squeezing a little more work into a little less time at the office. But things I am thankful for include all the family and friends who have chipped into make this time, not quite as crazy as it otherwise could have been. That truly has been a blessing.