Tuesday, January 20, 2009

115 days of sleeping in

on the way to church sunday morning my wife informed me that she has been waking up with riley for 115 days straight.

my response: "hmmm".

the conversation then made an awkward turn (if i would have been paying attention to what she was saying i would have noticed this).

"you are off tomorrow for martian luther king jr. day aren't you."

"yep." i said too quickly.

"what do you think you will do tomorrow?"

"i have no idea."

she sat there quietly waiting for me to offer something.

"would you like to get up with riley tomorrow morning?"

dang! i fell into her trap. she had me cornered and there was nowhere i could run. no excuse to get me out of waking up early. nothing. i began to panic.

"of course i would love to get up with riley." i forced a smile.

"thank you."

she knew she had won, but that is ok. i am the father and i should be willing to give up a few hours of sleep to spend time with my wonderful little boy.

that night she reminded me what bottle to give him and he normally wakes up around 6:45 or 7. i took a deep breath and smiled.

"this won't be too bad. i need to start waking up earlier anyway." ugh....

around 7 i heard him stirring. crap. he is waking up and i am not ready to deal with wet diapers, his wet farts, and warming his bottle. i know. i know... i am lazy.
i got up and i noticed his eyes were still closed... i put his pasafyer in his mouth and he started snoring. joy filled my heart!
i laid back down and i poked ang...

"he is still sleeping." my smile was from ear to ear.

she rolled over.

i fell asleep.

8:10: he finally wakes up. the good thing about riley is, he is always smiling when you greet him in the mornings. never crying. just smiling.

i pick him up and noticed he is soaked... dang you luvs... i change him and warm his bottle. he eats fast and burps loud. i was so proud of him for letting me sleep in. i knew he was going to be a daddy's boy in that moment.

we spend the rest of the morning on the couch waiting for his mommy to get up, while vh1 is playing in the back ground. he loves watching people dance. i think his favorite is brittney spears, but i explained to him she isn't safe around babies.

when ang finally woke up, he and i were both nearly asleep again...

it's so nice to wake up early with my boy.

thanks ang for asking me to get up with him. little did you know it would be the day he wanted to sleep in.

on a side note:
i was talking to tyler during lunch today he reminded of a story from my childhood.

my mother always taught me to turn my head and sneeze if my hands were full. i always listened to what my mother told me... she was swift with the hand if i didn't listen (it was always out of love... trust me. i was a brat).

one day while at the group urinal (like a small tub) talking about the history test we just faced at a young age of 9 (how mr.brandenburg was a mean fat man and why did the one girl always look at her hands all the time.) i felt a sneeze coming on. one hand holding my shirt up, the other holding...well you know. i had no other choice, but to turn my head. when i turned my head to sneeze, i also turned my whole body. still in midstream, i covered millard thomas in my pee. in that moment i knew i was going to die, but thankfully he just threatened me.

that's it... random pee story.

Monday, January 12, 2009

freaky dreams

i have always had a knack for weird dreams. dreams that cause me to talk in my sleep about the rock people who act like they are called eddie. yet, i have never had a dream to cause me to think so much about my life.

last night i had a series of dreams.

part one: the book signing.
i was at a large book signing for my friend james. it was so crowded that i was only able to hear him speak. the crowd kept getting thicker and thicker. i was feeling trapped and i was unable to get my jacket off... i started to panic and then before i had a chance to freak out i jumped to...

part two: billy graham.
i was seeing images of billy graham at a young age. footage of him working in the kitchen and a garage. i listened to him talk about his life and just laugh. it was odd, but seemed really familiar to me.
as i watch the black and white video, i quickly moved to...

part three: the FBI van.
i was sitting in the middle seat of the van. i was pretty calm until i looked down at my wrist and noticed my tattoo was gone. i freaked because my tattoo reminds me that i need to be rescued daily by God (i know some people are saying "you need a tattoo for that?" my answer is YES... SO LEAVE ME ALONE...). the FBI agent in the passenger seat turned around and took my arm. he looked at it for a few seconds and then spoke.
"i can tell you your future if you really want to know."
"ok."
he turned my hand over and and this weird thing appeared on my arm. some of the veins turned red and it made a path with a fork in the road.
"you are on the raven's path."
i had no idea what he was talking about. yet he kept talking.
"you will become the black sheep of the family. you will no longer feel comfortable with those you love. you are going down a path that is going to be hard and lonely."
i felt my heart get heavy and i felt fear take over. then he took my hand and told me something that woke me up from my sleep.
"trust me and it will be alright."

the clock was showing 3:03. i rolled over and went back to sleep.

my mind took me to youth haven Bible camp. timmy estes was there and he was crying.

"what is wrong?"

"my house burned down again."

the alarm goes off.

i am not sure what causes us to dream such dreams. i seem to keep having them over and over again... maybe i have been watching too many cartoons and listening to music that men on acid wrote... who knows.

just thought i would let you into my mind for a few minutes. scary isn't it.

Monday, January 05, 2009

marley and me

this will be one of the times i will regret confessing my lack of manliness.
i will share a part of me that most have never seen.

saturday night a few of us went to the movies. we all agreed to watch marley and me. very funny movie, but very sad.

since i recently lost my best friend (wondergirl), it was hard for me to contain the tears.

so there i sat in the theater crying. my wife hardly shedding a tear.

i tried to think of ways to cover up that i was crying, but none worked.

i am such a sap.