Life Begins with a look

it started with a look

two people deeply in love

a magical moment

becomes a heavenly gift

of innocence, purity, and love

Live from the Delivery Room

Well, my wife is currently IN LABOR. I am in the room at Queen of Peace Hospital in New Prague. Contractions are currently around every 3 minutes for a minute a piece. (not that i know, thats what i’m told)

Bethany conveniently waited until AFTER i was done with work, so i have been without sleep for a long while…and from what people tell me i will not get to have a good nights sleep for a long while.

It all seems so surreal. 9 months have come and gone and now its the big time. Its definitely real now.  It hit during the phone call when i was leaving work. I didn’t know the Stratus could do 90, but she can. Perhaps what i was actually waiting for was a police escort home, but instead…just arrived home.

I thought i was organized at home, but had to remember everything. I fell UP the stairs…do you know how hard it is to fall up the stairs. Bethany has already told me she won’t let me forget it.

I am trying to catnap a little as we have a long ways to go, but at the same time I don’t want to miss anything.   I realized that although the hospital gets Game Show Network and the History Channel, they do not get FSN…i will definitely follow the Twins somehow, but perhaps for the first time ever the outcome seems trivial.

Enough random thoughts for now. perhaps more to come.

Baby Watch…

I am officially on baby watch. It is now under 3 weeks until our due date. This basically means outside of work we won’t go anywhere. We did escape for lunch on Saturday and a quick Cabela’s/Outlet Mall pit-stop.  However, I ended up turning down a weekend of ice fishing which I haven’t been able to do in years.  I will have to make up for it by having a few more fishing adventures this spring/summer.

In other news, its actually quite nice to have a lazy Sunday. It was nice to lay on the couch, watch the Twins game and then take Madi out for a walk.  Cap it off with a fantasy baseball keeper draft and Chili in the Crock-Pot and it pretty much is the perfect day.

Birthday Money…the conundrum.

Conundrum: a paradoxical, insoluble, or difficult problem; a dilemma

My birthday has come and gone. The birthday money is here. Now the hard part. My birthday falls close to Christmas (within 2 months). These are the two times a year when gift cards and private (non-wife owned) cash exist. My wonderful relatives/in-laws have provided me the opportunity to salivate at Cabela’s and get what I want. That is a great problem to have and gift cards help eliminate the issue of what to do with a gift. I’m thinking a St. Croix or G-Loomis walleye rod. YUM!

However there is a fair amount of cash as well. Enough to get something rather substantial. But their is a catch. Birthday/Christmas money has stipulations, and not from the people who gave it in the first place to “do what YOU like with it”. Let’s translate that for the people who don’t understand. It really means “do what your wife will allow YOU to do with it. Here are some options, please leave a comment and vote.

1. Take a guided fishing trip. Guided fishing trips are expensive. $150-$200 dollars for a day. I’ve never caught a fish over 7 lbs. I’d kind of like to take a guided Flathead Catfish fishing trip and have the possibility of something weighing 15-80 pounds. Wife approval rating: 8/10. Bonus: Cash left over.

2. Put it in the bank under terms of using it to eventually get an HDTV. Watching a 24 inch screen the last 2 years is depressing after watching such a beauty of a television while living with Bethany’s parents. Wife approval rating: Haven’t asked. Since it doesn’t spend the money right away I’m sure its ok. probably 8.5/10. Bonus:Bigger Video game screen. Drawback…we don’t have HD cable.

3. Combine it with Cabela’s cards and go nuts. Wife Approval Rating: 4/10 (you already have gift cards their why spend more?)

4. I’ve really wanted to get back into ice fishing. I could use this right now and get a really nice fish house since they are on sale. Next year i could get the heater/vexilar electronics. In two years I would be ready and have really nice equipment. Wife Approval Rating: 3.5/10. (I have no way of currently transporting a fish house as I’m not sure it would fit in the back of the Stratus. Would have to wait until next year to use it.

5. La creme de la creme. (spelling?) X-Box 360. I’ve REALLY wanted to play Bioshock, Modern Warfare, and the sports games. Wife Approval Rating: -7,000,000/10. I already have a Wii, but looking back it was a rash decision. I should have saved for the X-box in the first place. I apparently am only allowed 1 video game system and I’m already invested in the Wii to the tune of 15 games. It is very fun, but more games I’ve wanted to play are on the X-box. I need to pass the games I have and re-evaluate. Anyone want a Wii in great condition? $200 bucks. You save about $75 after tax.

So 5 options, but they are not all legit. What do I do?

And Then There Were 8…

8 weeks until I become a dad. (assuming that the due date is correct..is it ever?) So here are a short list of things I have learned or come to realize.

1. When your wife decides in the middle of the night that she wants a sandwich…you make it. You don’t say “Do you REALLY need a sandwich?” You just make it.

2. Do as you are told (this applies ten-fold to the pregnant wife) it’s really not that hard unless you have an “Olsen” gene which causes your mouth to speak before your brain realizes the potentially dangerous “after effect”. But for the rest of you guys out there, just continue as normal, if you’ve been married it’s not like you have been taking orders for __(fill-in-the-blank) amount of days. (962 if you are counting at home).

3. Women “nest”. Thankfully in the human species it does not involve twigs and dryer lint. (If it does, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT question her about it. She’s pregnant and shes right.

4. Pregnant women cry about silly things. Learn to deal with it. Men cry for real reasons likewhen their sports teams win championships, their dog passes, and during “The Notebook”….right?

5. A daily meal schedule is as follows. (There is no alternate schedule). Breakfast, Snack, Brunch, Snack,Lunch, Snack,Afternoon Snack,Snack,Supper,Snack,Snack, Midnight Snack. You might as well play along. I have, and have proudly outgained my wife.

6. Remember any memorabilia you have? Go out and buy a Rubbermaid Tub. If you are lucky, someday she will let you have it back. If you blog about your pregnant wife, it may end up at the local Goodwill store. Proceed with Caution.

7. Your pregnant wife will not find it nearly as hilarious as you will when you take the baby registry gun to the electronics department while she is trying on maternity clothes that could potentially fit a hippo. Apparently the baby “doesn’t need” a big screen HD television or an X-box 36. pfffffft what does she know….

Thats it for now, if I space it out perhaps the repercussions will be less severe.

Tune in for Survivor and Lost tonite! too bad they don’t kill off Jack and Claire off of Lost though, BOOOOO!