A Complexity of Issues

Last night I had to call my friend Dan and have him turn to channel 47! Why, because Baseball Tonight was on, that's why. A 4 1/2 month hiatus from baseball is now gone, and I couldn't be happier. With it though comes drama again.

I'm a Giants fan and a Barry Bonds fan. And those who know me well, know where I stand on him. Today I read a very interesting article, "Barry vs. The Babe". Overall, I agree with these sentiments, particularly the last paragraph that Bonds is more than race, steroids, public persona. He is an amazing athlete who has been scrutinized his whole career. Why should anything change now?

And before my friend Brian goes posting some drivel about roids, I say again...Where is Sammy? Where is Raffy? Where is Mark? Where is Canseco? They all spiraled to the ends of their careers VERY QUICKLY upon 'taking roids' or some other enhancing substance. To my recollection, Bonds is still playing, and his numbers after his return from injury last season were the same they had been the past 4 seasons. Which one of these isn't like the other? Bonds. Why hasn't he tailed off like his compatriots, who we either know have or are presumed to have taken something? I'll let you answer that!

"Water, Water Everywhere...

...nor any drop to drink." This is the line from the 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' written by Samuel Taylor Coolridge. Drinking is life-blood. Each of us know when we are thirsty and how to combat that. It is almost an involuntary reaction, but we still do have some control over this reaction, initially.

For some time now I have been wrestling with the issue of alcohol in our society. Particularly working on a college campus and seeing first hand the impact alcohol, or better, the abuse of alcohol, can have on a person, family, community or institution. It is a touchy subject that many turn a blind eye and deaf ear to. I don't know how many times I've heard from people, college administrators included, "Drinking is what you do in college, they will get over it." I tend to disagree.

As I said, I have been wrestling with the issue of alcohol and consumption for some time. This primarily began when our society and government began to lash out at the tobacco industry. I was amazed to see how quickly negative publicity could impact a business sector. The creation of TheTruth.com only peaked my interest even more. What I find amazingly interesting is the fact that big tobacco business is actually running negative, or at best, neutral adds against itself! Talk about bad for business. And all of this over the issue of tobacco and how addicting it can be.

Don't get me wrong, tobacco, or the abuse or prolonged use of it, can and will kill. However, why aren't these same monies, efforts, adds, etc. focused on what I deem an equally, if not more lethal, and a more societal damaging product? How many families in this country are broken up by tobacco? How many young women are victimized by tobacco? How many youth die because of tobacco? The answer to all these questions are minimal when compared to alcohol, but nobody is talking about it! Now before you stop reading, thinking I am some far right conservative, look at some numbers:

The annual statistics speak for themselves.
*1,700: The number of college students who die every year from unintentional alcohol-related injured, including car accidents.
*599,000: The number who are injured while under alcohol's influence.
*696,000: Assaulted by another student who's been drinking.
*97,000: Sexually assaulted by a student who's been drinking.

And these are just numbers associated with traditional 18-24 year old college students! (The photo btw is a 'photo of the week' from the naval safety center against drunk driving. A weekly depiction of alcohol related wrecks!)

Where are the watch dog groups and government with this issue? MADD can only reach so far. We all can see how alcohol companies direct their advertising toward college students, whom by the way 55-60 or so percent are under the legal drinking age of 21! From the above numbers, over 1 MILLION college students are impacted negatively by the affects alcohol has on people. Again, we are talking about a segment of our society covering only 7 years. What about the 30's and 40's where families are being split up, kids are being abused, and where drinking and driving are just as prevalent. These people obviously didn't "Grow out of it". What about the retirement years where depression sets in and abuse is more likely than not even seen?

Alcohol has become an epidemic in our country and nobody is talking about it! Sure we get the "Be Responsible" talking heads, but the fact that it is a drug and is addictive overrides simple responsibility. Years ago our founders realized this issue and Prohibition was put in the U.S. Constitution. Obviously that didn't work and it was repealed. That in itself shows how powerful alcohol is. Changing the constitution isn't easy. Three major changes as it relates to society as a whole that the constitution addressed through amendments are Slavery, Women's Rights, and Prohibition. Which one of these isn't like the other? Only one is a preference, yet it passed through all the hoops to become a Constitutional Amendment!

One of these days, some senator's/president's/governor's/alcohol company owners's son our daughter will become one of the above statistics. At that point, I predict the societal backlash will be just as strong and swift as that towards tobacco because when you step back and look at the numbers, tobacco has as much impact on society as the high school football state champion does to the NFL. Alcohol on the other hand impacts society the way the NFL draft impacts the NFL. The next generation is coming into contact with a drug that could easily end careers, or worse. College isn't a time for partying, it is a time for personal exploration and education...alcohol shouldn't have any part in that. I do though believe that part of the education process is coming into contact with situations that will present themselves after graduation, and for that, then the current abuse of alcohol can be a good educational tool. But at what expense?

The line from the poem at the beginning was written about a sailor stranded in the middle of the ocean, not able to consume the water. Sometimes, I wonder is this is the same depiction many of our students are confronted with and being surrounded, yield to the temptation, thus putting them on a negative path. Over 1 Million of them were on the path last year, and the scary thing is that number is growing yearly!

The Truth About Cats and Dogs

I love dogs. I have since I was young. Our family always had a dog or two, or at one point, three around. They were great companions! They were, however, always larger dogs (Irish Setter, Chocolate Labrador, Great Dane). Due to this, I have a bias against small, what I call "yip" dogs. That bias grew today at lunch.

In my experience, dogs have become more prominent in our society in recent years. When we were in Seattle, we experienced a culture shock every time we walked down the street on Queen Anne hill. Outside of nearly every shop, restaurant, bar, or other establishment was a bowl of water for the dogs to drink. Many places even had free dog treats that owners could ask for and give to their dog. This made me remember back to my mom always asking the bank for a sucker or lollipop when I was a child. Tara and I often commented that many peoples' dogs were treated as good or better than children. Grooming salons, doggie boutiques, doggie couture (for those of you who don't live on a coast or watch Queer Eye, that basically means fashion) doggie gourmets, and dog parks have become the rage. All this for man's best friend!

Now back to lunch today. Malibu isn't that different when it comes to dogs. The pet store is extremely overpriced but people still pay the money to usher in a new member of the family. Today, while a few of us from the office went to a favorite burrito establishment, we encountered man's best friend. After we ordered our food, we sat outside to enjoy the beautiful 70 degree sunshine (yes, Jerry and Brian, that is the yellow thing that is warm in some places in the winter). Anyway, a nice lady came and before she entered to place her order, tied her extended son to a table leg. The extended son was a Bichon Frise (dog on left, but you need to click on the name to take this blog to a WHOLE other level!)! This dog began to bark, and bark and bark and bark and bark...Yes pretty much constantly for the remaining of our time there. The line was long, so the owner was inside. And the dog continued to bark, and bark and bark! It got so bad that even my animal loving friend, Katie Ebeling, walked up to the dog and said, and I quote, "Shut your yapper!"

This leads me to an interesting conundrum: If dogs are like children to people, do you treat them like somebody else's child in public? What is the average person to do in this situation. No lie, the dog barked for some 15 - 20 minutes while the owner was in line. We left before she came back out because it was so annoying! If someone's child was left at a table crying hysterically, we probably would have sought out the mom. Should we have done the same for the dog? One of my co-workers said, "Leave your dog in the car!" Can she? Is that a crime like leaving your baby in the car? Again, I love dogs, but this situation was ridiculous!

So, to the lady with the little white dog, please buy a muzzle or stay with your pet. And to those out there with any insight on how to better handle situations like these, please post comments!

Beginning Week 34

Wow! The time is flying by. We are under 50 days now and Tara is continuing to get bigger! Her back is aching more and gets a little fatigued from time to time, but still is having a GREAT pregnancy. We had a doctor appointment yesterday and everything is still looking great. He went over our ultrasound results from two weeks ago and everything was fine. He did say that it is difficult to tell or predict, but there is a chance we could have a large baby (somewhere over 7.5 pounds). Currently the baby is between 4.5 and 5 pounds and should gain between 3-4.5 pounds over then next month! I can't believe that Tara and I, both being wee, could possibly have a 9 pounder!

As you can see, she is continually getting bigger. She is sitting in our new glider, which is SO COMFORTABLE! It is really an amazing chair and is great for her! It glides, locks, reclines, makes coffee, and we are still trying to figure out the teleportation button on the side. Once we get that figured out, it could be the coolest thing EVER!

The Helmetization of America

Our weekly baby classes have come to an end, and as I've said before, overall they were beneficial, but I felt they were too drawn out. The past two weeks of our 'baby care basics' class focused on safety (child proofing and infant C.P.R.). The idea of child proofing has always presented me with a quandary (and no not the 14er I climbed this past summer). The issue I have isn't about the safety of our soon to be born boy, but the hyper-sensitivity of our society as it relates specifically to children.

Again, I'm not down on protecting our children, but I do think that we are on the verge of moving too far. To me, it is pretty simply a life and death issue. I've discussed this with different friends of mine who are parents and picked their brains regarding safety. What I have come to is pretty simple: If my child is more likely than not going to die, I will provide hyper-sensitive care/protection; however, if it is a possibility that maybe 1 in 100,000 times my son might bump his head and get a scratch, I'm not too worried. Children will be children.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has put together a list of "12 Safety Devices That Protect Our Children". First before I move on, isn't it my job as a parent to protect my child, or the device? I know many of you may say, "You are protecting them by buying and installing these products." Anyway, on this list, I agree with the majority of the items. However, I do have a problem with 'cordless phones', 'corner bumpers', 'door stops and door holders', and 'door knob covers'. Again, back to my philosophy, if I have a razorsharp edge or corner, maybe I will look into covering it, but to cover all corners in my home is a little silly. However, a home covered in bubble wrap would be AWESOME! And for the cordless phone, how long have they been around? 100 plus years of humans have survived the corded phone just fine. I don't think I have ever seen any person get into such a predicament with their phone cord that it could mortally injure them (however, I do remember when I was a kid,my mom getting tangled a few times, but that was because we had the 100 yard cord that was always crinkled up in a knot!). Door stops/Door holders? This is so the kids fingers don't get slammed into a door. Again, it is my job to help teach my child this danger, but hard knocks sometime are the best lesson. I know I learned really quickly that closing doors should be avoided or my little digits would hurt. Door knob covers? What about, "NO, don't open that door." Again, I know kids will do what they want, but hopefully I will be able to 'parent' them enough to not need a veritable prison cell in my home!

It's not all about toddlers either! What about helmets? California requires all bicycle riders to wear them. Along with minors who skateboard, rollerskate, walk on their hands for more than three feet, and play scrabble :)! I understand there is an inherent danger in falling without a helmet, but again, how many years have we been riding bikes? It is a funny sight to go down to Santa Monica and rollerblade along the path beside the beach and see the families who look like their more ready to play football rather than rollerblade decked out with gloves, wrist guards, elbow pads, knee pads, helmets, uv protected sunglasses, zinc on their noses, and 100 s.p.f. sunscreen! This always makes me ask, first how is that fun, and second, at what point will this end?

I will close by talking about car seats. Again, they are very important, and should be used correctly to protect young children in car crashes. But as you can see on above, some states have already moved to the 8 year old law! What? California is discussing this issue. It currently mandates that 6 years or 60 pounds need to be in preferably a 'high back booster seat'. Eight years is crazy to me. Also, as you can see from the map, what happens if my friend Brian Cole in Michigan, takes a trip to Ohio, or West Virginia when his daughter is five? Those socially conscious individuals in Illinois, or Indiana, might turn him in to Child Protective services for not having his child in a booster seat, even though at home (where 80 percent of all traffic accidents occur btw) they are totally safe and legal! Again, EIGHT YEARS? Nothing against my parents, but at 8 I was riding my bike to school, without a helmet, and crossing major streets...and as far as I can tell, I'm still breathing...

Beginning Week 33

Seven weeks to go! It is crazy how this is coming to an end. I think it is going fast, and will go fast, but as my grandma Klooz told me, "Don't tell Tara that, because it can't go fast enough for her!" As always, that is wise wisdom and she is right. Tara is getting bigger and bigger each day. It is amazing to see/experience. This past Monday brought the end to our birthing class. 6 weeks, and I'm glad it is over. We learned a lot, but also it felt like it drug on a little too much, maybe it could have been condensed into 4 classes? We did meet and connect with two of the couples in class and exchanged info, so that was fun.

Tomorrow, Thursday, brings an end to our baby care basics class. Again, both Tara and I are ready for this to be over as well. Having something every night is draining! (Tara goes to grandma's on Tuesdays, and we both have our student staff meetings at night on Wednesdays.) We will learn infant CPR tomorrow which will be good though.

I have begun to have dreams about our boy. I've had two vivid ones. One where he had a darker complexion like me, really skinny/tiny, with black curly hair, and eyes like Tara. One last night, where he was bigger, lighter skinned, almost resembling my cousin Julie's boy. It is weird to have such vivid dreams, and interesting that Tara isn't having any specific ones yet, that she can remember that is.

Well I hope you all are enjoying these weekly updates. I was asked today from a friend who visited my blog for the first time, if after the birth this will be a family/baby update space. I know it will in that I hope to continue the Wed. updates. It is a great way to let everyone know exactly how we are doing. I will though, hope to continue my musings as well :)

Hallmark Holiday

Don't get me wrong, I love my wife! But today, February fourteen, has been taken just a little too far. For starters, how many of us actually know anything about the person whose name is associated with this day? If you said, "Yes, I do." Well, you are wrong! The Catholic church doesn't even know. They recognize AT LEAST three St. Valentines, all of whom were martyred. Here's a brief run down. One Valentine supposedly married young men and women after the Roman Government outlawed marriage of young men due to war. Another legend has Valentine getting killed for helping Christians escape Roman oppression (insert Monty Python's "I'm being repressed" voice here). A third and more popular legend has Valentine being thrown in prison, falling in love with the jailor's daughter and sending the first 'Valentine' before his death reading, "From Your Valentine".

All of these are great stories about supposedly great men, but do they necessitate a holiday? Well, this is where Western consumerism and capitalism come into play! Let's look at a list of what I and others around me deem 'Hallmark Holidays'. Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Cinco de Mayo (for my non-Spanish speaking friends, this translates to 5th de Mayo) and (here is where I may get in trouble) birthdays. My wife is saying right now something to the effect, "I don't want a lot, but shouldn't people be dancing and eating cake while celebrating the fact that I came to the Earth!" But I digress. Each of these days are nothing more than an excuse to a)party, b)charge inflated prices for average items, or c)give the opposite sex a reason to nag and compare items 'a' and 'b' to their friends significant other's accomplishments! Plain and simple, it is a way for business to gorge the consumer strategically throughout the year.

I don't know how many people today asked me, "What are you getting/doing with Tara for Valentine's Day?" That is the problem right there! I shouldn't have to get/do anything. I replied, "Everyday is Valentine's day in our household." As I said, I love Tara, and I like to think that I do special things for her throughout the year. I surprise her with flowers, take her out to dinner, buy her special things, and even clean up without her asking (given I don't do this one as much as she probably wishes). But the point is, I don't wait for one day a year to do these things. I understand that some in our country need this day as an excuse to exercise niceness, and that is sad. But for society and big business to 'force' consumers to pay exorbitant prices for common items today is ludicrous!

Here is my best Valentine's Day story. When I was in college many years ago, my friends and I were lamenting this very fact that I'm blogging about. We were frustrated that our poor college friends were paying $60+ for roses for their significant others, when those same roses were around $20 the week earlier. Anyway, we decided to combat this the best way we knew how: To let our fingers do the walkin'! At approximately 11 p.m. we took our Yellow pages and our friend's truck around the city to the local flower shops. What many don't realize is that flower shops bring in literally tons of roses and they fill every crevice of their shop for the 14th. That evening, they have to make room for their normal business of selling all types of flowers, so they throw those $60.00 rose bouquets away in the dumpsters. Now, it still may be illegal, but we didn't hop any fences or go behind any doors, we simply went to the dumpsters that were in the parking lots, or alley ways. After four short hours, we came back to campus with, and I'm not exaggerating, a truck bed, level, full with roses.

Pink, Red, White, Fire and Ice, you name it we had it. We sorted out all the damaged ones, and were still able to give bunches of roses to our moms, sisters, female friends, teachers, staff members, just about everybody on campus! Everybody who saw or had flowers had huge smiles throughout the day. And the best part was it was February 15th! It wasn't Valentine's Day, it was just any day of the year.

The moral of this story is...make everyday Valentine's Day, or Michael's Day, or Charles Day, or 'insert your favorite patron saint here' day. The notion that we have to be trapped into overpaying for a holiday is ridiculous. By the way, when is Festivus?

God's Gift To Man

(Warning the following may not be suitable for minors, nursing mothers, or those with aversions to hair) Today, for the first time in over three months, I look like the picture in my bio on this site. For those who haven't seen me or noticed, the guys in our office celebrated fall by growing our own 'fall foliage', or facial hair. I started at the Student Government retreat in late October, and by Thanksgiving, 2005 I had a decent look going. I decided that I would grow it out until Christmas because Tara's family should get the joy of experiencing my first ever facial hair experiment.

The week after Christmas I trimmed it or "groomed" my artwork and decided to keep it until our ski trip to CO in January (see post "Rocky Mountain High"). This was sort of weird because I looked more like Sir Edmund Hillary while skiing because the moisture froze in little droplets on my 'stache and created icicles. I vowed to shave it off after this trip.

However, the week before our trip, I found out that the Student Programming Board at Pepperdine was hosting an event called Pepperdine Moustache Day! Wow, I finally could participate! So, I decided to shave down to a goatee after the trip and wait until Thursday, February 9, 2006. (I did this because my loving wife, Tara, wouldn't let me just sport a 'stache all by itself. I remember her mumbling something about scaring children, but I wasn't paying much attention).

Yesterday, February 9, 2006 was a glorious day. My coworker, Justin Schneider (the good looking guy with the suit) called the moustache at last year's event, "God's Gift To Man". Mustaches were everywhere (or at least on 30 or so faces). What I found intriguing were not only those who participated in the great day, but those who unknowingly were participants! It's amazing what you see when you are looking for 'staches. I never knew so many people wore them. As I said, we had a good core group with all different styles, but there were many guys who walked by going to and from the cafeteria who put us all to shame. Unknowingly, many of us were coveting their facial hair!

Here is the look I had yesterday. I don't really know what I was going for. Some called it the Tom Selleck, some called it the look from the Beastie Boys "sabotage" video. I called it gross! As I said, today I'm clean shaven again. I must admit, though, I'm having a little shavers' remorse! I didn't like the partial facial hair, I like the full beard. Who knows? Today I leave for another Student Government weekend retreat. Maybe by Monday, I'll be back at it again. I do know for sure that the 'fall foliage' will happen. I also know, that for my generation, mustaches should be outlawed!

Beginning Week 32

Week 32 has come upon us quickly. Tara began the day responding to an incident at 3 a.m. She is on duty this week so she "gets the opportunity" to respond to campus incidents this week. After that wrapped up, she was informed that there was a fire reported 5 miles from campus. For those of you not familiar with the area, this is the closest fire we have had to us in the four years we've been here. However, the fire only reached about 40 or so acres before water dropping helicopters were able to help ground crews get it under control. Also, the winds had died down earlier this morning which helped keep the flames from moving to aggressively through the hills. In the background of the picture you can see the top of a ridge. From up there the fire could be seen. That is how close/lucky we were this time.

You can see from the pics here that Tara is starting to get bigger. What's crazy is to think that the baby will double in size over the next 9 weeks! He currently measures to be about 3 lbs 8 ozs. We have a pretty good face shot from the ultrasound, but I haven't yet scanned it and uploaded it. I will post that soon.

It's All Gray To Me

Working in higher education, you speak about generations, or groupings of students in generalities quite often. This current generation of students in our higher education system tends to need or want direct/specific direction, answers, or policies. They simply want to be told yes or no. They don't like "Gray" areas. This can be seen primarily in judicial cases or with university policies. Students today want specifics.

This is in stark contrast to their parents who were on the other end of the spectrum. This population was in college in the '70's primarily and they didn't want 'black' or 'white'. They wanted to "buck the system", "make love not war", "love the one you're with", "legalize marijuana". (Now really quick these are just generalizations and don't typify any one individual) The seventies were a time of unrest and pushing the societal envelope so to speak. What is funny now, is these same people are given the name "Helicopter Parents", and who are often more of a friend than a parent. I can't tell you how many times we, in student affairs, wish that the parents would act like that, parents. They often have not provided enough structure for their children and their 'anything goes' ideology simply has left students desiring for more structure.

Something about this generation of parents has been intriguing to me. Again, my parents, who fall into this category btw, don't really fit the mold I'm talking about here. However, the college students of the late '60's and '70's are now the ones who are in 'power' in our nation. More and more, the generation that partied their way through college, brought drugs and alcohol to the forefront at institutions, challenged morals, and embodied the term situational ethics are being found at the center of major controversies today.

Take a look at business. Enron is the big one, but many a business has been caught cooking the books this past decade, or cheating the system.

Take a look at religion. Christianity in the U.S. is really struggling right now with what it means to be in this world not of it. How many churches today simply assimilate with the culture and focus on comfortable over the gospel?

Sports are not immune either (and this is actually why I'm writing this blog today). The Seahawks got jobbed on Sunday. The officiating was HORRIBLE at best. I'm not a Seahawks fan but love sports, and I still couldn't believe some of the calls that were made. Also before everyone goes too hard on the NFL remember back to October and the daily criticism of blown calls in the MLB playoffs. What about many of the college bowl games (the Nebraska/Michigan game comes to mind) and how poorly they were officiated. Think back to the past 4 years and Mark Cuban and other owners blasting NBA officials. This generation of officials, more than any other, is criticized often.

There are many factors that contribute to this phenomenon in sports. One, instant replay is a huge factor to calls being scrutinized. Second, more games are now on television than used to be, which allows for more people to see mistakes. However, in the case of bowl games, superbowls or the world series, this should be the best of the best. I read that the #3 NFL crew officiated the Super Bowl? Why not #1?

This leads me back to my original point. This generation currently in power needs to do a better job. Given, they have huge shoes to fill following not long after what some have coined "The Greatest Generation". But honestly, across the board, no one is immune from scandal. We live in an age where information is published at alarmingly high speeds, so more than ever we must live beyond reproach. More often than not, the current powers that be don't! I don't know if it can be related to their formative educational years and how many may have 'missed' those, but either way, something has to improve. Maybe in a few years when the likes of Scott Strawn are officiating the Super Bowl, or Daniel Common are umpiring the World Series all will be well with the earth!

What's in a name?

At what point do naming rights supersede sport? Obviously ALWAYS as is shown from this article today."Giants' home to become AT&T Park"

The stadium on the bay is called Pac Bell Park. The fans still say it, the players slip up and still say it. That is what it is called. It changed last year to SBC park, and now one year later, it is changing again to AT&T Park. When does this end? It isn't like the Giants are getting any more money from the corporation. That has already been contracted.

This trend in naming sports stadiums after companies has run it's course in my opinion. The problem actually lies with the owners. It isn't hip anymore for a city to fund a stadium project. More and more cities are turning up their collective noses at this. Take a look at the battle the Florida Marlins are in right now. Sure, up and coming cities are willing to lure a team to their locale by giving them a stadium, but franchises embedded in cities, like the Giants, have to look elsewhere when a new stadium is wanted. I still contend that the owners often have the cash to spring for a stadium project, but being the savvy business men and women that they are (which allowed them to purchase the team in the first place), they find deep pockets. In our society, those pockets are the corporations.

I guess at days end, it's not what is on the outside that matters, but the product on the inside. Like other things in life, this too is just superficial, but as a fan, I just want to call it SOMETHING!

The Giants, like many, are cozying up with big business. Thus the naming rights. This case though has become a joke! How many name changes will this beautiful stadium (and for those of you who haven't been here yet, you MUST go) have to endure, or better yet, when will the fans get to call it something, anything for that matter?

Will It Never End?

I'm feeling down today. I thought maybe it is because I'm catching something. It seems like everyone around me is sick right now. Maybe it is because I had a late night at work yesterday. But then I ran across this article/video: "Punxsutawney Phil: 6 more weeks of winter"

Now it all makes sense! I was hoping beyond hoping that our winter would end. It is really difficult going through the winter months and not seeing 75 degrees on a day to day basis! Really, last evening when I was going home after our 2 1/2 hour Student Government meeting, it was actually 48 degrees! That's right you didn't read that wrong. Today's high is only going to be 68...FAHRENHEIT!

I don't know what is more disturbing: The fact that we celebrate a rodent on this day every year, or the fact that lots of people stay up all night waiting to see if this rodent sees his shadow. I understand tradition and all, but this takes me back to another soap box that I find myself on quite often. This event lost merit when the flight to the sunbelt became popular. Does anyone 10 hours south and west of this tree stump even care? And if not, then why does this warrant national media? Moreover, why is the current 'Midwest' still named that? It was given that name over 200 years ago when the 'west' was the great Mississippi river. To my recollection the west is now CA, WA, and that other state in between. Technically speaking, the Midwest would be CO. And OH and IN would be the middle east! But as this event today shows, we are still stuck with traditions 200 years old.

So I guess I will have to continue to choose the wool blend polo shirt over the rayon for 6 more weeks. This winter thing is not fun in sunny southern CA!

Home stretch: Beginning Week 31

Wednesdays are the days that Tara begins a new week of pregnancy. For those out there who may not know, pregnancy last 40 weeks. As a tangent, in Monday's birthing class, we were shown a video on induction. During the video the researcher said that actually a majority of first time pregnancies are longer than 40 weeks. When our facilitator said this, I became "that guy" and asked the logical question, "So if a 'majority' of first time pregnancies are longer than 40 weeks, why isn't the count 41? From a statistical standpoint shouldn't the middle of the bell curve be where the majority have their child?" Of course this was a little too confusing for many, and the facilitator humored me by saying something to the effect, "That is a good point, maybe 40 is just easier." But I really know she was thinking, "What are you talking about, and who are you anyway, Rainman?" Which I'm not BTW. I just think literally.

Anyway, today, we begin week 31. 30 down, 10 to go. To say the least this is where the waiting game begins. I am more ready than Tara; I wish we would have our baby tomorrow! We are ready. As my friend Chris V. told his wife, "Walking into their middle room, I couldn't believe it. It is like there should already be a baby there." We have painted the room a khaki color, put together the crib and changing table. I built a desk into a closet to save space, and we even have started our library of kids books! We purchased a glider and already have enough clothes to cover our son until he turns one, thanks to Tara's mom's best friend Tonya!


As you can see, we have chosen a Winnie the Pooh theme and are going with more primary colors. This is something that we both like, pink and blue are nice, but we like the primaries. We have a nice lamp and also were given a great swing and 'jumping apparatus' or a "bouncer". We are pretty set. It will actually be difficult to register because we already have so much stuff!

Each Wednesday, it is my plan to give updates and pictures. We start here, in the early third trimester. From the front, and in black, you can't see much. The baby is actually about 3-4 pounds by now. We will know a little more come Friday when we have our second ultrasound.


I love ultrasounds. I know there are those out there who remember the old days when there were still surprises, but it is amazing to see the child inside Tara! It makes it that more real. Sure, we can feel him move, but seeing is wonderful. We already know from the first that it is a boy, but me being the skeptic, will want more evidence. Stay tuned, there is a 10 percent chance the tech read the last ultrasound wrong and we could be having a girl! From the side you can get a better idea of the belly. Again, black is definitely a slimming color, but this is what Tara was wearing today, and I learned long ago, not to ask for an outfit change. That may induce a "clothes crisis" which for those of you who haven't experienced it, lets just say it isn't much fun. So for today, black will have to do.

Well, that is pretty much it for this one. Stay tuned next Wednesday for another update. Maybe, just maybe we will have a good ultrasound picture or two. Also, I will start now and mention the nice, soft, red shirt that Tara has. Maybe by Wednesday, I can talk her into wearing that one!