Business Trip Recovery

One of the most difficult aspects of a business trip is the recovery afterward. Not only is it the work projects that, for the most part, were put on hold during my time out of the office but, more importantly, it is about making up the time with family and returning to our usual routine. No matter what I have tried it has yet to be made any easier.

What didn’t help this time around was the fact that I few down to Atlanta over the weekend not feeling well and after a few days of early mornings and late nights, I was really feeling like ‘crap on toast’ upon my return. Further complicating the matter was the fact that I had a lodge meeting on the schedule for the evening following my return and there was no possibility of staying home from work that day either. And because that wasn’t enough, both my wife and son were fighting off something.

Just one of these things would have kinked the works enough to make the simple task of getting work done even more difficult but having everything descend upon me all at one time has made the day less than fun. Makes me wish that I had caught up on everything else, the multitude of open projects, prior to my departure. I guess this is just one of those instances when you just put your head down and work until you can’t work anymore.

It really is astounding how much things have changed over the last few years. Walking out the door has become harder and harder with every tear and disappointed look on my son’s face and knowing that there is the possibility that I might miss something while I am gone is nearly an unbearable feeling to hold in throughout the day. And while I know that I am forgiven soon after returning home, the sadness that I have caused during the week is something that I wish I could take back.

Thankfully, this last trip concludes the bulk of my business travel for the year with only a few quick day trips that could pop up during the remainder of the year. I am hoping that my son will better understand the situation next year and that I might be able to have my family join me in the future. It would further complicate the travel but a complication that I welcome.

TMI Tuesday: Hungry Baby

The whole back and forth during meal time is something that we expected to encounter with our some but we were happily unaware of many of the factors that come into play during these parts of our daily routine. Our son can be fickle at times when it comes to what he wants to eat. Sometimes he doesn’t like the taste of something while other time he simply prefers having something else, something he knows he likes better than what is being offered. It is a back and forth at times but something that we remain cognizant of as we don’t want his pickiness to persist.

However, lately there has been a different issue that has arisen during meal times that has him turning his nose up at certain foods being offered. There actually three reasons that we have discovered for his disagreement actually. The first is that he has so many teeth coming in that there are some foods that do not agree with swollen gums and new oral protrusions. The texture has to be just right at times. The second sometimes relates to the first as he is now preferring larger pieces of food… too small and he will sometimes refuse to eat, too big and we are cleaning up more than pieces dropped on the floor. Too hot or cold will also result in the same kind of reaction. I guess you could call all of these things contributing factors to the Goldilocks conundrum.  

When all of these things are at play at the same time it can make for quite the difficult meal and usually ends with various pieces of edible confetti strewn about the kitchen floor. Other times everything goes as ‘planned’ or at least pretty close and he stuffs his face like he is late for a meeting or something. The latter is particularly funny when we give him a whole cereal bar and he proceeds to devour it just as fast if not faster than most adults.

Overall, we have learned to not get in the way of a hungry baby as there is a possibility that you might lose a finger in the process. Mmmmm, meaty! In fact, we try to give him his space once we put food on his tray as there are times when he won’t eat if someone is watching him. This works out for us as we can either get a few things done in the kitchen or, gasp, eat dinner at the same time. After all, that is the goal that we are working toward as we want this to be a time spent with family around the dinner table.

Three Months!

It seems like I just posted the two month blog yesterday but here we are just over three months since our son was born (three months and three days to be exact). There have been good times and hard times throughout the last month as our son has become aware of more and more of the world around him. He is slowly learning little pieces here and there and now communicates in his own way with us (especially when daddy comes home from work). That moment when he turns his head and smiles at me is, by far, the highlight of my day.

Everyone said that these days go by fast and while there are certainly times when time seems to move very slowly, I really don’t know where the last three months have gone. It is a blur of work and baby with a few memories from lodge meetings and other events. Everything seems to have faded into unimportance while the specific moments of seeing my son do things, see things, react certain ways, and sooth us remain vivid in my mind. Even some of the unpleasantries that have been experienced are quarantined into the recesses of memory. It is a hard thing to explain but many of you know exactly what I am talking about.

There are times when I have come through the door after a particularly long day at the office and everything seems to just fade away. Other times I have come home later than usual knowing I have to get some more unavoidable work done but lacking the energy to do so… sneaking up to his crib and watching him sleep is all I need to keep going and keep working that night. And when I am at work and my mind begins to drift, I think about my son and I get back on task knowing that if I don’t finish things up during the week, I am going to have to spend some time away from him on the weekend tethered to my computer… I have managed to avoid working on the weekend for some time now.

It has been an interesting and quick adventure so far. There has been a lot of poop and a lot of laughs, many headaches and numerous giggles, a few hard days and countless beautiful moments. All the while we have watched him grow still not quite believing that he is here and that we are a family of three. Things have changed so much and as he understands a little bit more of the world around him we are eager to introduce him to new places and experiences and that is exactly what we have planned for the next three months.

First Mother’s Day

My wife and I have both been looking forward to today and dreading it at the same time. There has been a lot that has happened since the last time that the calendar noted this holiday. There is a lot that we have to celebrate and a lot that we are missing on this day. To my wife’s credit, which says a lot about her strength, she decided to focus on the joy of the day and I did my best to make that a reality (even in the face of a few trying moments). Like many things these days, time is moving both fast and slow. It seemed to take forever for this day to come but it also caught us a little off guard.

For the past couple of months we had been anticipating the good and bad of the day. In an effort to focus on the former we decided to get away for a couple of days. I nearly dropped the ball on this one but managed to make it happen by booking a room early last week (more on the trip itself in my next post). It was also late in the week when I was finally able to order flowers for my mom (for which we got a call when they were delivered yesterday)... ProFlowers.com kind of saved me on that one. We both owe a lot to our mom’s and now that we have a son we understand even more the importance of this day.

We were a little apprehensive about the overnight stay at a hotel with the baby given that this was his first night away from home but, in the end, the entire trip went better than we could have ever hoped. There wasn’t a single moment of crying for much of the getaway and he seemed to be happy to explore a new place and simply spend time with his mommy and daddy. Of course, it could be that maybe our son is already learning that you don’t mess with mommy on Mother’s Day.

While we did our best to think of all the good things that have happened and the fact that it is the first Mother’s Day that we have celebrated with our son, I couldn’t help but think about the one thing that I couldn’t give my wife today. I didn’t buy a card or flowers as there wasn’t really anything that I could find that made sense… at least not this year. I could have bought a “First Mother’s Day” card but it was also a first for another reason… one that I couldn’t change. It was a hard day but a great day as well. I just wish that I could have given her the gift that she really wanted today.

Memories To Carry Me Through Monday

Cute Monkey!

It was a long weekend and I really wasn’t looking forward to heading into the office this morning. For the last three days we were out at one place or another trying to get things done and complete some final tasks. It would have been tiring had everything gone to plan but ended up being exhausting. There were highs and lows with our son doing his best to go along with everything. While he was a bit fussy and overwhelmed, we couldn’t have expected him to handle things much better than he did. With that said, we really don’t want to put him through another weekend like we just had.

When I got up this morning it felt like I hadn’t slept in days. While my eyes may have been closed and my body immobile, there seemed to have been little recuperation. My body was certainly sore and my head ached. And even though my gassy son was drowning out my alarm clock, it was still a sound that was more welcoming than the chirp and screech emanating from my cell phone.

Even half cognizant of all that was going on around me, I still had those few moments from the past few days that carry me through the morning hours. Seeing my son being held by his cousins is something that has been a bit overdue but happened at just the right time. While they didn’t seem quite sure what to do when my wife placed him in their arms, their faces lit up and seared their reaction in my memory.

Last night also proved to be a great ending to the long (but too short) weekend as my son insisted on cooing at me as the paint peeling smell emanated from his diaper. It was the first time that we heard him make those sounds and they made me want to call out of work this morning just so I could hear them again. Obviously, I will have to make do with the memory which carried me through my commute this morning.

While on that drive my wife called me not long after I got on the highway. I was anticipating less than good news, when I picked up the phone I could hear the understated excitement in her voice. Our son wasn’t just cooing, he was laughing. Even though I wasn’t there to hear it for the first time I am glad that my wife was able to have that ‘first experience’ and now I have something to look forward to, something to carry me through the long Monday.

The More You Know!

Sunday Search: Tree Changes

Today begins another regular series of posts that I hope to write each week, Sunday Search. For the most part, I will be writing about genealogy related subjects including recent additions to my family tree, interesting resources or programs, and discoveries that give greater depth to the lives of my ancestors. There is also the plan to write small biographies similar to those that I have done in the past most notably of my grandpop, great grandfather, and great, great, great grandfather.

While there are grand plans for this series, I start today very simply. Recently I had to make a couple of updates to my tree. One that I had been dreading for months and the other that I have been looking forward to since last summer. Two changes that clearly demonstrate the dichotomy of the basic information that we all compile as we trace our roots… birth and death.

Both of these additions of information are almost surreal after having spent so much time digging through centuries of family history and piles of ancestral records. It is a change in perception I would previously dig through pages and pages just trying to find out when someone died but now, having experienced that last moment, it was not something that brought me any enjoyment whatsoever and by doing so, I think back to all the other times that I had to record that information for other loved ones in my tree.

From one unique experience to another. There are names that I see over and over again on both sides of my family and by adding my son’s leaf, one of those names repeats itself for another generation. But the name we chose, especially the spelling, was a means to connect my tree and my wife’s tree. Our son’s name adds to that bond between our deeply rooted family histories.

While he certainly doesn’t comprehend any of this now, I look forward to the day when we can introduce our son to his entire family and the history that his name carries with it. Between the two trees, there is a complex history spanning much of the world. My family touches on many areas and different cultures and my wife’s family covers a completely different geography and part of world history.

Each leaf has a little more to add to the family history just as each piece of fall foliage adds to the autumnal landscape. All different trees offering a different variety of colors but working in unison to tell the same story. That is what our son has to look forward to and what I am looking forward to sharing with our son.